Darkness Ahead
by darkphoneix
Summary: Ranma comes into his birthright and both he and Nabiki are plagued by mysterious dreams.
1. Default Chapter

  
Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and its characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Video. I am only using their characters for the entertainment of others. Terry Brooks and the publisher of his books own all the characters and ideas that I use from them.   
  
Author's Notes: This story will be crossing over with a trilogy of books by Terry Brooks: 'Running With the Demon', A Knight of the Word', and 'Angel Fire East'. Characters from these books may make short appearances throughout the story but it will mainly be Ranma with the concept of the trilogy.  
  
Darkness Ahead Chapter 1:  
  
After making sure that no one was around, Ranma closed the dojo doors and moved into the center of the training hall. With a moments concentration his body lifted into the air, seemingly defying gravity. Then he began to move. It was a variation of one of his favorite katas, one that displayed the might of the Saotome-ryu and its mid-air combat maneuvers. Flitting around the room, Ranma soon became encased in an crimson bubble, its surface showing him as a distorted, humanoid blob.  
  
"Here goes," he said to himself. Spreading his hands roughly a foot apart he focused opposing energies into them. Chi in his right hand glowed bluish-white and whatever the other stuff in his left hand was, he didn't know, went from hazy red to a torchlike flame. He brought them together, carefully manipulating their patterns so they wouldn't explode in his face like the last hundred times. In the spirit of safety he also pulled his force field in as close as possible, making it nearly skin tight. When they came in contact with one another there wasn't the thunderous explosion he had expected or even the slightly bruised and burnt body, but there was something new. It was like solid flame, only transparent and containing a pulsing white spark within itself.  
  
"Yes!!!" the martial artist exclaimed. Two seconds later his creation exploded, taking the roof of the dojo with it.  
****  
  
It had all started during his battle with Saffron. While fighting the demi-god, Ranma had used huge amounts of energy, energy he never knew he had. He had felt it within himself like an ache or an itch begging to be scratched just when exhaustion had begun to drag him down, bringing his opponent's firey blasts much to close for comfort. The energy though, didn't behave like chi, and at first when he attempted to use it as if it were nothing had happened. Results were easier in coming when the desperate battle caused him to act on instinct. Then he was enveloped in the raw power and with a second wind of sorts had killed Saffron.  
  
No one else knew and Ranma wasn't telling. Over the past three months, during all the fights with Ryoga and Happosai and all the other challengers he hadn't once used it, even going so far as to only practice in the dead of night when he was assured that no one would discover his secret.  
****  
  
Groggily Ranma sat up, pushing a roof timber off of his chest. When his eyes finally refocused they took in the destruction that had been caused. A good portion of the roof, at least a half, was gone, along with most of the front wall.  
  
"Oh man, even Kasumi's gonna kill me," he muttered dejectedly. So what if he had finally discovered the procedure needed to combine his chi and the mysterious power that he had come to command, it wouldn't do any good if someone killed him.  
  
"My dojo! Waaaaaahhhhhh!! It's ruined!!!" came a wail from the back porch of the Tendo home.  
  
"Oh my!"  
  
Akane and Nabiki soon joined the group.  
  
"What the-" was all Nabiki's still half-sleeping mind could manage.  
  
Akane, however, was much quicker to waken and her sharp eyes caught sight of a pigtail sticking out from behind a piece of debris. "Ranma!!!"  
****  
A panda slept peacefully, unaware of the occurences in the outside world, currently romping through a food filled dream world.  
****  
Ranma levered himself onto his feet using a timber embedded in the ground that had narrowly avoided inpaling his head on its trip from the ceiling. Leaning on it for support he finally saw the four people staring at him, one of which was sporting a glowing mallet which matched perfectly with the glow coming from the rest of her body.  
  
"I-I can ex-explain it-" was all he managed to say before making an unscheduled excursion into the upper atmosphere, a mallet still imbedded in his face.  
****  
He finally managed to get home two hours later at nearly 4:30 in the morning. Nabiki was waiting for him at the kitchen table. Upon it sat a glass of water, a camera, and several extremely revealing nighties and bathing suits.  
  
Her smirk made him shudder briefly."Well Saotome, up for a little photo shoot, say about three or four hundred poses?"  
  
Ranma considered paying for it using the money that his mother had given him. He ruled that option out though nearly as soon as it passed through his mind. She had given it to him for emergency use and his present situation hardly seemed like an emergency, just a very big inconvenience. Plus he'd rather go on a date with Kuno than let Nabiki find out that he had a bank account, a rather large bank account. With a resigned sigh he nodded and said,"Sure Nabiki, just wait till after school tomorrow, okay."  
  
She kept her smirk and shook her head slightly."Nuh uh. We're going to do this right now before Akane gets kidnapped again or you blow up the house while training."  
  
"I don't know if you noticed or not but I've been blown up and malleted tonight. I'm not in the mood to put up with your crap and with my body covered in bruises you probably won't get top dollar for your stuff."  
  
"We both know that your little ordeal didn't harm that profitable little body, your face isn't even bruised and that's where Akane hit you. Oh, and I don't care what kind of mood you're in. I'm the one making the rules here," she said indignantly.  
  
Time to try something new. It was a suprisingly good idea and since it had come from Hiroshi of all people was all the more amazing: threats go a long way."I just accidentally destroyed part of the dojo. Do you realize what I'm capable of if I actually put some effort into it?" It wasn't really his style and using his the tactic against Nabiki of all people was beyond dangerous but he really was in a bad mood. Akane hadn't even stopped to check him for injuries before she had laid into him with her mallet; somehow her lack of concern deeply affected him, but even he didn't know how.  
  
Previously in steadfast control of the situation, Nabiki was at a momentary loss for words as she felt things spiralling out of her grasp."Was that a threat, Saotome?" she finally asked, her voice dark and full of menace.  
  
"It's whatever you want it to be. Goodnight, I'm going to bed." And with that he turned and went to the guestroom to join the panda in slumber.  
****  
Nabiki felt herself flush, heat rising to her face. The reaction was not in anger though, instead she was excited. Ranma had been so..so...different. He hadn't turned into pudding and for once had stood up for himself in a non-fight situation. Now this was a Ranma she could get to like. As soon as she thought it, Nabiki was struck with the horror of her own reasoning and as punishment to herself dumped the glass of water she had previously intended to use on Ranma over her head.  
  
Now soaked and dripping she dragged herself up to her room and changed out of the wet clothes and into her new yen imprinted pajamas that Kasumi had bought for her. Her final thoughts before succumbing to sleep as she lay in bed were of how she could make Ranma suffer for threatening her and in the process getting her feelings all tangled up.  
****  
The next morning at breakfast no one but Akane seemed upset over the dojo, Nabiki had told them that before the end of the week she would have it as good as new. Akane was another story altogether. She had been glaring daggers at Ranma all morning and on more than one occasion bopped him over the head with a chibi-mallet for no apparent reason except for his being alive.  
  
"So boy, what was it you were doing last night?" asked Genma after eating all of his food and giving up on stealing Ranma's since every time he tried his hands got another welt added from the previous tries.  
  
"Nothing oyaji. Just practicing, that's all," replied Ranma nonchalantly as he grabbed the last grain of rice from his bowl.  
  
"Don't lie to me! You've got a new technique and you don't want to share do you?" his father snapped.  
  
"So what if I do have some new techniques? They're mine. You've got your forbidden techniques that you won't even teach to your own son, why should I share mine with you?"  
  
Genma sat staring at his son. He hadn't actually expected the boy to have developed his own special techniques, techniques that were very powerful from the evidence. If he had indeed done as he said then he may finally be ready to be taught the Umi-sen-ken and the Yama-sen-ken. Genma needed to see his son in action first so he asked,"Would you like to learn them?"  
  
Ranma's head snapped towards his father so fast that no one saw it move. The Saotome Forbidden Techniques were some of the most effective martial arts manuevers he'd ever encountered, his own limited knowledge of the Umi-sen-ken, the sea of a thousand fists and the fight with Ryu Kumon who used the Yama-sen-ken, the mountain of a thousand fists had taught him that. If his father was seriously considering teaching them to him then a little demonstration of abilities that Genma wouldn't be able to duplicate anyway wouldn't hurt."You serious pop?"  
  
"I would never joke about the art, boy," replied Genma in his holier than though voice.  
  
"Truthfully?" asked Ranma. He still didn't believe his abysmally dishonest father.  
  
"Show some respect, boy! I could help you to refine your own techniques. Mine were to dangerous and had to be sealed away and if your's are too then for your own safety you must do the same."  
  
That actually made sense. Genma, his own father, nearly as big an idiot as Kuno, had made sense. Ranma along with the Tendo's who had been watching the conversation between father and son, all stared in obvious astonishment at Genma.   
  
"What? Have I got something on my face?"  
  
-Insert mass facefault-  
  
****  
  
School had gone as well as Ranma could have hoped for, only being attacked a half dozen times: three times by Kuno, once by Akane because he sneezed the wrong way, and twice by Mousse. Surprisingly Shampoo hadn't shown up all day and Konatsu was sick at the hospital with Ukyou staying with him to make sure he was all right. Shampoo had however shown up while Akane and Ranma were walking back home. When she attempted to glomp Ranma, Akane launched him with her mallet.  
  
Mere inches from landing in the koi pond Ranma stopped and floated over to solid ground.  
  
"So that is one of your new techniques," said a voice from behind him.  
  
"Gah!" Ranma turned quickly, only to see his father appear out of the shadow cast by the compound's far wall."H-how did you do that?"  
  
"Just one of the few applications of the Umi-sen-ken."  
  
"That was more than just hiding your aura. You were invisible!"  
  
"No, I simply wrapped myself in the shadow."  
  
"Well let's get started then. I'll have your 'forbidden techniques' mastered in a week," claimed Ranma confidently.  
  
Couldn't argue with that one, he was probably right."Have you forgotten the deal, boy? I must see your techniques to determine whether or not you are worthy."  
  
"I don't really have any new techniques,"admitted Ranma. Before his father could respond he said,"But I have learned some new abilities."  
  
Now angry and a little disappointed, Genma asked,"What do you mean 'new abilities'?"  
  
So Ranma explained to his father about the new energy that he found he could manipulate during his battle with Saffron. He told of how he could use it to fly effortlessly, produce powerful protective shields, and create numerous fire-based attacks which put much less strain on him than chi attacks but were also less powerful.  
  
Incredible. Genma was beyond simple pride in his son. He couldn't have expressed his feelings if he tried, something that he wouldn't do anyway. It seemed that Ranma had progressed so far in the Art that he no longer had limits. Just imagining the combination of flight and the mid-air attacks emphasized in the Saotome-ryu gave the father goosebumps.   
  
Unfortunately before father and son could converse further Akane came storming through the gate with a look of smoldering rage on her face. She caught sight of Ranma and like a guided missle, changed directions, and was suddenly heading straight toward him."You pervert!! Nabiki told me what you're going to do!! I can't believe you!! Ranma No Baka!!!" An overhead swing and Ranma was firmly planted in the ground. Genma ran for his life.  
****  
Nabiki came running through the gate a minute later then stopped to lean against the wall to catch her breath."Gotta warn Ranma," she gasped.  
  
"No thanks. I could't afford the info and it's a little late anyway," said Ranma after regaining consciousness and seeing Nabiki panting like she had just ran a marathon. Why does she care?  
  
"Damn." Now she definitely wouldn't be able to take any pictures today. The massive lump and bruise on Ranma's forehead making it pointless.  
  
"Mind giving me a hand here? Oh wait never mind, no money, forgot." Making it look like he was pulling himself from the ground Ranma slowly levitated from his chest high burial. Once free he asked,"What did you tell Akane?"  
  
Knowing Ranma to be broke and that he would eventually find out anyway, Nabiki decided to tell him."She asked me what scheme I was planning to get te dojo repaired. I told her."  
  
He looked at her suspiscously."Is that all? She sure did seem mad."  
  
Her 'I'm so innocent I couldn't step on a weed' face appeared instantly."No, that's all."  
  
Ranma was having none of it and continued to stare at her in silence.  
  
Unnerved by the determined look in his eyes and remembering the oblique threat from the previous night, Nabiki after several long seconds said,"I might have said something about renting you out to a couple of your other suitors. You know, on dates and stuff?" Oh shit, why had she told him that?  
  
"After the last time you did that Hiroshi, a friend of mine brought up an interesting point, know what it was?" She shook her head."He told me that prostitution was illegal in Japan. I had not even thought of it that way until then but when I did it all made sense. You were treating me like a whore." Unusually Ranma, who by now would have owed Nabiki his entire life'e wages was now holding his own against the mercenary girl.  
  
Oh my god! She'd never treat Ranma like that. The thought was cut off as she realized that that was exactly how she treated Ranma. Nabiki used people, it was fun, especially in Ranma's case but not like that. Unnoticed by the girl, her revelation being of such magnitude, tears welled up in her eyes before she ran into her home.  
  
Oh my god! I made Nabiki cry. The thought was amazingly satisfying to Ranma who had been on the receiving end of much of Nabiki's machinations over the last year. Still the sight of any girl crying could be equated to superman and his reaction to kryptonite.  
  
"Now I've gotta apologize." She'll probably make me her slave or something.  
****  
"Go away!" screamed Nabiki. She didn't want anybody to see her until she could get her emotions under control. Too bad that years of repressed emotion tend to build up and when they are released don't just retreat back behind the wall that once held them.  
  
"Come on Nabiki, tell me what's wrong." Akane was at a loss as to what to do. She had been leaving her room after changing into her yellow gi to go and practice in the back yard when Nabiki, in tears, ran into her room and barricaded herself in.  
  
"This is your last warning!"  
  
"Nabik-"  
  
"Remember the those pictures of your third birthday party?"  
  
Akane growled in anger and frustration as she walked off, but the threat was recognized. She'd do almost anything short of killing someone to keep those pictures secret.  
****  
Ranma waited until Akane was down the stairs and out back before approaching Nabiki's room. He hesitated a moment before knocking and was met by,"Damnit Akane, go away!"   
  
Ranma's senses had been honed over the years to the pinacle of human development, so he easily heard the muffled sniffles and sobs. It didn't hurt that the walls weren't all that thick."Hey Nabiki, it's Ranma. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for making you cry. It was mean and I'm not really mad at you or nothing."  
  
"Argggghhhh" Why wouldn't they just go away? She just needed some time to sort things out, that's all.  
  
"Are you all right?" asked Ranma worriedly after hearing the pained cry. When he recieved no answer Ranma became worried and with a solid shove knocked the door off its rollers and into the room.  
  
Nabiki had her head buried under a pillow and was shaking badly, her incoherent mumbling made even more garbled because of the pillow.  
  
"Nabiki?" No answer."Nabiki speak to me." Still no answer. He walked over to her and shook her shoulder lightly, trying to get her attention.  
  
In a blink Ranma found himself the target of a near bone crushing hug. Nabiki had her head leaned against his shoulder allowing him to finally discern what she was saying.  
  
"Why won't it stop?" repeated constantly.  
****  
An hour later Akane came in from her workout and headed to her room to get a change of clothes. At the top of the stairs she saw Nabiki's door knocked down and rushed into her room. The sight that greeted her was plain damned scary.   
  
Ranma had the look of a deer caught in the head-lights. In his arms was a sleeping Nabiki, dried tear tracks showing clearly on her face.  
  
Akane automatically assumed the worst, which was unimaginable to any other human being."You pervert!!! What did you do to my sister?!?"   
****  
"Lady, is it wise to manipulate them so callously?"  
  
"Yes. If they are to be a team and prevent the coming darkness their relationship must be changed dramatically from what it is now."  
  
"Your previous alterations have been minor but the amount of magic that you've used this day alone will alert every Void aligned demon in the hemisphere to them. What if the Void's agents find them before they arrive and what will happen to the family if Ranma and Nabiki are gone when the agents do arrive?  
  
"You have witnessed Ranma's battle prowess as have I and never before has such a mortal warrior existed. If he were to fall so early then we are all lost."  
  
"What of Nabiki and her family?"  
  
"For now Ranma will protect Nabiki. Another of our allies will see to the families safety."  
  
"You know best, I guess."  
  
"Yes I do."  
****  
  
  
Author's Notes: In this story Ranma is going to be a psychiccer. If you're not familiar with the Psychic Force games, a psychicccer possesses power over an element or force and can use it to do the new things that Ranma does. Nabiki will be returning to some semblance of normalcy in the next chapter, but her view of Ranma will be changed drastically. You can e-mail me at dark_phoneix@hotmail.com.   
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and its characters belong to Rumiko   
Takahashi and Viz Video. I am only using their characters   
for the entertainment of others. Terry Brooks and the   
publisher of his books own all the characters and ideas that   
I use from them.   
  
Darkness Ahead Chapter 2:  
  
"You pervert!!! What did you do to my sister?!?" demanded Akane.  
  
Ranma was too shocked by the accusation to respond so he sat there, staring stupidly at her.  
  
Nabiki, however, was quicker to act, even while sleeping. Her eyes snapped open and quickly surveyed the area. At first she didn't see Ranma, only an angry and glowing Akane, but then she began to wonder why she was so warm and comfortable. Slowly she turned her head and caught sight of Ranma and his shocked expression. That brought back the memories of the last couple hours and she groaned to herself at the stupidity of it all. What had possessed her to do that?  
****  
Far away a magical entity, timeless and beautiful, sneezed for the first time in its existance.  
****  
"Calm down, Akane. Ranma-kun didn't do anything." Ranma-kun?! What the hell?!?  
  
Akane only grunted in reply, she was busily calculating the angle of impact needed to send Ranma back to China. After a moment she gave up, even she wasn't that strong.  
  
"Really. He just heard me crying and wanted to see if I was hurt. That's how the door got broken. Isn't that right Ranma?"  
  
Ranma nodded distractedly. How had he managed to act so sensitive? He just couldn't figure it out. Every other time in his life when even remotely similar situations cropped up that needed finesse or kindness he had only managed to get himself attacked or engaged by making the wrong comment. Whatever had kept him going was no loger present though.  
****  
"Wow, sneezing is fun," concluded the entity after it suffered from a second one.  
****  
Nabiki got on her feet and with a relutant Akane's help, pulled Ranma to his feet. He stood, glassy eyed and with the same expression on his face. Wordlessly, and like a robot he walked out of the room, only stopping at the door to hear Nabiki say,"This never happened."  
  
Akane still had a firm grip on her anger and needed an outlet, badly."Don't pretend with me, Nabiki! You were hoping to use this as black-mail against Ranma! I can't believe you!"  
  
Nabiki's eyes, for an instant, flashed with sorrow and pain, but it was gone too quick for the remarkably unobservant Akane."I suggest you keep your accusations to yourself." The look that passed from older to younger sister bore such menace that the younger flinched and took a step back."Now if you don't mind, I would like to get some work done."  
  
Akane took that at face value and retreated from the lion's den. Afterall, she did have a baka pervert to punish.  
****  
  
She found Ranma down stairs watching tv, or at least sitting in front of the tv. Kasumi sat on the couch beside him, organizing her recipe book.  
  
"Oh Akane-chan, do you know what's wrong with Ranma?" asked Kasumi who never looked up from her book.  
  
"I don't know, but I sure am going to find out." She caught ahold of Ranma's pigtail and used it to haul him over the side of the couch and drag him into the back yard where she threw him into the koi pond.  
  
The shock brought Ranma out of his, now her, stupor. She leapt out of the water and scowled at Akane."What'cha do that for?" demanded the dripping girl.  
  
"Don't you dare play innocent with me! I know you were doing something with Nabiki!!"  
  
"Geeze. Didn't you hear Nabiki? She told you the truth."  
  
"Ranma-!"  
  
Ranma cut her off."What the hell is your problem?! This is Nabiki we're talking about! Do you realize that she would own my soul by now if something had happened?"  
  
"Don't-!"  
  
"Arghhh! For kami's sake will you just believe me for once!?! She was crying and it was my fault! I had to make her feel better!" He didn't know why though.  
  
Akane, not convinced prepared to call forth her mallet and hand out some extremely prejudiced justice but she caught the look in Ranma's eyes and stopped. Even with all the anger she had built up over this incident she could easily see just how upset Ranma was and she wasn't stupid. Well, maybe she was a tad bit stupid(think p-chan), but she did know that if Ranma ever decided to fight back against her she didn't stand a chance. Still angry but scared enough not to attack, she turned and stomped back into the house.  
  
Ranma sighed and hung his head. Why couldn't Akane ever just trust him? Would it be so hard.  
  
"I'm proud of you, boy."  
  
"Eeek!" sqeeked Ranma girlishly."Will you stop doing that!?" she demanded to her father who was standing behind her."And why are you proud of me?"  
  
"You're finally taking a stand with against Akane and taking up for yourself. Now the school's union is assured!" proclaimed Genma excitedly.  
  
Ranma didn't see what there was to celebrate, but she did know that her father was willing to teach her and now was as good a time as any."Will you shut up oyaji? There's only so much time in the day."Genma sported a blank look similar to the one Ranma had been using a few minutes earlier."Baka! The forbidden techniques. You were going to begin teaching them to me. Maybe your little panda brain forgot?"  
  
"Show some respect for your elders, boy!" Genma leapt into the air and did a somersault.  
  
Ranma nearly didn't see it coming, the distortion in the air being so minute. At the last possible second she dodged out of the way only to have her vision impaired by the cloud of dust that rose into the air when her father's vacuum blades smashed into one of the rocks that lined the edge of the koi pond. Before she could muster much of a defense a solid kick to the back of her head sent her flying into the wall.  
  
"What's the big idea?" she said weakly after extracting herself from the wall.  
  
"Simple. I am going to use the Umi-sen-ken and the Yama-sen-ken against you until you can defeat with them."   
  
Ranma recieved no other warning before she was forced into a wild pattern of leaps and dodges. When Kasumi finally announced dinner, it was a much more bruised and slightly humbler Ranma that entered the house. Plus she was pretty certain that with a little practice and a few minutes of free time that she could produce a vacuum blade. It was really hard though when you're barely keeping yourself from being disemboweled.  
****  
  
Ranma bounced off the wall, using the extra momentum to carry himself higher into the air, then when he reached the apex of his flight, came barreling down in a whirling mass of chi induced wind. His target, currently a bewildered panda, stood staring as the minicyclone that was his son impacted him squarely in the gut. All at once the wind slammed into the panda like a freight train.  
  
As Genma-panda went flying into the evening sky he grinned pandaishly before the pain caught up with his brain and he fainted. It had been nearly a week and Genma had mercilessly pounded on Ranma using the forbidden techniques. In the morning before school and from the time he arrived home in the afternoon until Kasumi called them in to eat dinner. What really surprised him was that Ranma seemed unable to pick up the simplest maneuver. His speed and dodging abilities had increased dramatically along with his chi awareness but nothingelse. Then it all changed. On saturday Genma got his ass kicked.  
  
Ranma had immediately faded from view and before the man knew what was going on he had been beaten into the ground. Sure he had tried to defend himself, but his son was like a force of nature, unmerciful and unstoppable.  
****  
Ranma cheered for himself, no one else was there to do it. He'd shown that fat panda who was boss. He'd even used improved versions of some the techniques and created new ones using the base idea of the qiuet thief and the noisy thief.  
  
He wished that his mother was here to see his victory, the first true victory he'd had against his father who had always held back from going all out, but she was still out of town."Oh well, maybe Kasumi has some cookies made."  
  
"Ranma, that was wonderful," said Kasumi when he walked into the kitchen.  
  
"Huh?" was all he could manage as a reply.  
  
"Your fight with your father, silly!" She wiped her hands on her apron and produced a plate of cookies from behind her back."Nabiki and I watched it. How ever did you manage to turn into that cute little whirlwind, though?"  
  
"Oh that, It was just a whole bunch of vacuum blades. Hey, can I have some of those cookies?" he asked eagerly.  
  
"Who do you think they're for?" she asked, setting the plate of steaming cookies on the table along with a glass of milk.  
  
Ranma could have swore that she was using Hidden Weapons Style martial arts. Maybe he could get her to teach him one day. Nah, probably just worked on food and stuff. Woah, cool. A inch before the cookie could enter his mouth he stopped and eyed the treat intensely."Um, Kasumi?"  
  
"Yes?"  
  
They looked good and sure did smell good, but it wouldn't hurt to be a little cautious."You did make these right, without Akane helping?"  
  
Nodding happily, she was about to wash some dishes when she noticed a small cut on the back of Ranma's hand."Ranma, your hand is bleeding!"  
  
Already on his third cookie, Ranma examined the hand Kasumi was pointing at, his left and notice there was indeed a small scratch on the back, just behind the knuckles."Must of been one of the blades."  
  
Kasumi was already at his side with a first aid and bandaging the wound.  
****  
  
Akane walked into the kitchen intent on trying out this new recipe she had just found in a magazine. Sitting at the table was Ranma, she didn't know why she even tried to cook good food for the baka, and he was holding Kasumi's hand. She completely missed the fact that Kasumi was holding the hand in place as she dabbed antiseptic on the wound on Ranma's hand.  
  
"Pervert!!! Get away from my sister!!!" She belted him over the head with her mallet then when he was down, she smashed him through the kitchen wall and into the koi pond.  
  
Oh no! The kitchen!"Akane," said Kasumi sternly.  
  
The equivalent of being slapped by Kasumi was enough to stop Akane from further punishing Ranma for his perverted ways.  
  
"That was uncalled for and you should go apologize to Ranma. I was only binding a cut he got fighting his father."  
  
Akane wanted to crawl into a hole and die when Kasumi said that to her."Maybe...but he's still a baka pervert." she said weakly.  
****  
Ranma was seriously beginning to question whether or not Akane was truly unbalanced. For months now her temper had been growing worse and the smallest things would set her off. Not even two weeks ago he had sneezed in class and she had somehow taken it as an insult and knocked him out the third story window of the classroom. Now in the last week she had attacked him twice, assuming that he was cheating on her with her own sisters.   
  
"Stupid tomboy," mumbled the soaked red-head as she dragged herself from the pond.  
****  
Ranma's sleep came slowly that night and when he finally did nod off, his dreams were anything but pleasant.   
  
The landscape was bleak, the grass dead and trees dying. Despite the appearance it wasn't winter and there was no drought, easily noticable thanks to the sweltering heat and puddles of muddy water scattered about. At his side, holding his hand walked his wife of ten years. She was like a light in the darkness. Through all the hardships the fall of civilization had brought she'd been with him. They had tried so hard to stop it, many had. Their efforts had been in vain though as one by one their fellow knights were hunted down until only they remained. The hunters and demons had come for them on numerous occasions but none had succeeded. Eventually they grew so feared that they were left alone by those who now ruled the world, demons: humans twisted by evil into beings as fundamentally different from humans as humans were from fish and Once-men: those who had thrown away all values and restraint and lived for the killing and destruction. A small consolation. They now lived as wanderers, moving between the last few strong-holds of humanity, walled and fortified cities where humans could live in relative safety. No one welcomed them for fear that they would bring greater attention from the ever watchful demons.  
  
Ranma saw a feeder through the corner of his eye and with a burst of fire reduced it to a wisp of shadows. He felt a slight tug on his hand and turned to see Nabiki, his wife, pointing to the great walled city of Tokyo. Then he heard the sounds of automatic weapons fire and high explosives.  
  
Ranma's dream was rudely interrupted by a pale of ice water.  
****  
  
Nabiki walked through the carnage, unshed tears fresh in her eyes. Bodies lined the street and blood flowed, turning puddles from a recent summer thunderstorm into pools of crimson. How had the demons and their follwers broken through the defenses? She and her husband had traveled all over the world, helping where they could and no place they'd encountered was as heavily defended as Tokyo. Where were the mech-units and the laser-turrets? It just didn't make sense.  
  
A scream rent the calm of the morning after, followed by a burst of gun-fire. She and her husband took to the air and began searching for the possible survivor, maybe she could answer their questions. They found her, huddled behind an overturned dumpster, trembling and sobbing in fear. Nabiki knelt down to offer the frightened woman a hand. She recoiled as if bitten though as the woman turned to face her, it was Kasumi. She was a changed woman though. Her face, especially her eyes shown with age years beyond her. A nasty gash on her temple had smeared blood all along the side of her face.  
  
As if she didn't believe her own eyes, Kasumi rubbed them gently with the hem of her dress then looked up again."Nabi-"  
  
Another scream, this one real, forced Nabiki to wake, seconds after sharing a look of deep sorrow with Ranma.  
****  
  
"I'm really really sorry, Akane," said Ranma as she tried to comfort the crying girl."You just suprised me and I was having a bad dream."  
  
When Ranma tried to brush Akane's hair out of her face she slapped her hand away and said,"L-leave me alone."  
  
"Why are you acting like this? I already apologized, so what's the problem?"  
  
When she received no answer except for a weakly thrown mallet, Ranma stood and left Akane's room. She ran into Nabiki in the hall.  
  
"What's going on Ranma?" asked Nabiki with a no small amount of nervousness. Even though the memories from the strange dream were fading fast she still could not help but feel an attachment to her hus- no Ranma.  
  
Ranma averted her eyes to the floor when she saw Nabiki. It may have only been a dream, but it was a very vivid dream and she still felt lingering ties to Nabiki, her wife.  
  
"Well?" Nabiki asked, irritated at Ranma's reluctance to look at her. It hurt a little to be ignored by her.  
  
"Akane decided to wake me up by throwing cold water on me, as you can see. Well, I was having a bad dream and she surprised. It was just a reflex," she said quietly, still looking at the floor.  
  
"What was just a reflex?" questioned Nabiki. She saw how upset Ranma was and her previous anger quickly left her, replaced by a need to comfort the little red-head. That part of her mind was quickly pushed deeper into her subconscious by long present mental barriers.  
  
"I slammed her into the wall and held her by her throat real tight. She's got a bruise and burn from my battle aura. I didn't mean it, honest," pleaded the red-head, near tears, the idea of hurting a defeseless girl being so alien to her.  
  
"Is she alright, Ranma?" Nabiki didn't wait for an answer though and ran to her sister's room to check on her. Ranma went downstairs for breakfast.  
****  
  
"Akane?"  
  
"Hmmm?"  
  
"Why are you so upset? Ranma told you he didn't do it on purpose," emphasized Nabiki.  
  
"H-he w-was so s-s-scary," Akane managed to say between sniffles.  
  
"Oh come on, Akane. Ranma is a big puppy dog, you should see how upset he is right now. I thought he was going to cry."  
  
"You don't understand!" exclaimed the girl after she had stopped crying."His eyes were completely red and he was surrounded in fire. It wasn't a battle aura, it was real fire. Look at my neck." Akane pointed to a small Ranma-chan sized handprint. It appeared to be a minor first degree burn.  
  
Just like I remember from the dream."You know Ranma can probably fake stuff like that."  
  
"Yeah," conceded Akane.  
  
"And you did wake him up in the middle of a bad dream, right?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"So?"  
  
"But what about last week?"   
  
"What about last week?" Nabiki asked curiously. The only thing she knew of of interest that had happened over the last week was Ranma's defeat of his father and aquasition of the Saotome Forbidden Techniques.  
  
"After that time when you broke down, you know?" Nabiki nodded tightly. She really wished no one but Ranma had seen that."I threw Ranma in the koi pond and he got real mad."  
  
"He always gets mad when you do that and when you hit him, or feed him, or hit and feed him."  
  
"This time he looked like he does when he gets really mad." Akane placed extra emphasis on the 'really mad' part.  
  
"How so?"  
  
"He looked like he was going to attack me."  
  
Oh, that explains a lot."Why are you so worried? You could just wop him with your mallet like always."  
  
Akane let out a sharp, bitter laugh, totally out of character for her."I couldn't stop Ranma if he didn't let me. I'm pathetic compared to him."  
  
Bingo."Why don't you come down stairs and look at Ranma? He looks miserable. He could never bring himself to hurt you."  
  
"OK."  
****  
A now male Ranma was absentmindedly twirling a chop-stick like a miniature baton when they came down. When he saw Akane he immediately started apologizing.  
  
"It's all right Ranma," lied Akane. In truth she could hardly even look at him.  
  
Instantly Ranma's demeanor changed back to cocky martial artist and he said,"I shouldn't've been worried about a tomboy like you anyway. I'm surprised I didn't hurt my hand." He cringed in expectation of a mallet because of his slip of the tongue, but when he opened his eyes he saw only Nabiki looking at him a bit wistfully. He had to force himself to not make direct eye contact with her.  
  
"She's scared of you," said Nabiki out of the blue.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Akane's acting so strange because she's scared of you now."  
  
"Why? Nevermind, no yen." He felt a pang of guilt at his careless remark.  
  
Nabiki felt pain and guilt: pain because of Ranma's opinion of her and guilt because he didn't have any other reason not to act that way around her. Still she needed to tell Ranma what to do to make Akane go back to normal."This one's free."  
  
Ranma's eyes bulged and his jaw hung loosely when he heard Nabiki.  
  
She continued,"My guess is that Akane has always been worried that you could force yourself on her or something like she used to think the boys at school would do if they ever defeated her. That's probably why she started hitting you. Her temper and ability to jump to conclusions is why she never stopped, though. Now that you have attacked her, even if it was an accident, she's realized that you still could force yourself on her any time you want and she really wouldn't be able to stop you."  
  
"But that's stupid! Why would I try to do that to Akane, or any other girl?!" demanded Ranma, angry at the implied accusation.  
  
"This is Akane we're talking about. She saw Ryoga change into p-chan last week and still didn't figure it out."  
  
"Oh yeah...What?! She saw him transform and still didn't figure it out?!"  
  
Uh oh."I thought you knew."  
  
Ranma was by now exhibiting a slight battle aura and Nabiki could easily feel the heat being generated."That's it. Promise or no promise, Akane is finding out about p-chan!"  
****  
  
Author's Note: Yeah, yeah. I know that Ranma and Nabiki are acting OOC. So what. This is my fic and I did throw in the magic influence from last chapter and the small little dream sequences(they'll be playing a big part in the next couple of chapters). C&C welcome at dark_phoneix@hotmail.com  
  



	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and its characters belong to Rumiko   
Takahashi and Viz Video. I am only using their characters   
for the entertainment of others. Terry Brooks and the   
publisher of his books own all the characters and ideas that   
I use from them.   
  
Darkness Ahead Chapter 3:  
  
"That's it. Promise or no promise, Akane is finding out   
about p-chan!"  
  
Oh shit. Nabiki would have sworn that Ranma was in the back yard with Akane when Ryoga had gotten splased by the koi."Maybe telling Akane isn't such a good idea. She's already upset at you and if she finds out that you knew and were only keeping it from her because you promised Ryoga-" She left the job of guessing the horrid things Akane would do to him to Ranma's imagination. Of course Nabiki had known about the promise, she did have the whole house wired. At the time she'd kept to herself about her knowledge because it was fun watching the soap opera that was Ranma's life, but now, in the last week at least, she had come to care whether he lived or died. Too bad she didn't know why.  
  
Ranma would have normally imagined Akane holding a giant glowing mallet with spikes imbedded in it, but he was to busy trying to figure out how Akane could be as oblivious as Kuno. For a moment he had decided that Akane had known about p-chan all along and was just going along with Ryoga in some perverted game. He laughed at his own thought and decided that Akane, like he had always suspected, was a stupid tomboy.  
  
"Ranma!"  
  
"What?!"  
  
"You've been standing there for the last five minutes."  
  
"Oh, just had a lot on my mind, you know?" All he needed now was a certain perverted little cursed piglet and all would be right in the world. Maybe he could even get it fixed.  
  
As luck would have it, a now enraged Ryoga came barreling down the stairs, intent on on maiming his hated foe, one Ranma Saotome. Nabiki hurriedly jumped back out of the way. No sense in getting decapitated.  
  
"Ranma Saotome, for hurting Akane, prepare to die!!!" Enraged beyond reason, Ryoga madly swung his umbrella in an attempt to turn Ranma into a fine paste.  
  
Ranma, trying to minimize damage to the house that a fight could cause, led Ryoga into the backyard with only three holes getting knocked in various walls.  
  
"Nice to see you again p-chan," greeted Ranma cheerfully while he dodged Ryoga's strikes with casual ease, only serving to increase the lost boy's berserker madness.  
  
"Arghhhh!! Stand still and die like a man!!!" Wielding his umbrella with one hand, Ryoga unwrapped three bandanas from around his head and sent them all flying towards Ranma who had somersaulted onto the back wall of the Tendo compound.  
  
"Entengouka!" From both of Ranma's hands, a two foot fire ball was fired, meeting the bandanas in mid-air and in an impressive explosion, reduced them to ash.  
  
Unfazed, Ryoga jumped at Ranma and came down in an arc, driving his umbrella completely through the stone wall and into the ground. Ranma was already behind him and with amaguriken speed kicked Ryoga in the back of his knees. Forced to his knees, Ryoga swung his free hand back and hit Ranma squarely in the jaw, knocking him into the Tendo home's wall.  
  
"Now you die!!!" Ryoga began glowing a pale, sickly green, as he brought his full battle aura to bare."Shi Shi Hokodan!!!" he screamed as he fired a huge blast of heavy chi directly at Ranma who had recovered after colliding with the house and was now advancing towards him.  
  
Just then Akane came out of the house with Nabiki in tow. She was determined to find out what was going on and nothing was going to stop her.  
  
Ranma turned his head and saw Akane and Nabiki directly behind him. If he dodged they would most likely be killed by Ryoga's attack. Firmly decided on a course of action he brought his own battle aura up, its deep blue contrasting heavily with the green of his opponent's. The aura changed into the solid bubble that he'd learned to create shortly after returning from Jusendo and with his will alone changed it into a flat plane of energy directly in front of him.  
  
The green ovoid of chi shot like the bullet it was at Ranma leaving a commet like trail behind it. Ryoga vaguely saw Ranma's form through the haze of emotions but to one so familiar with depression, he easily tracked the depression made tangible, the shi shi hokodan, so it came as quiet a suprise when it disappeared.  
  
"Yasha tan ryu sei fu!" Ranma enclosed the chi blast in his shield like one would do using a cloth in the original version of the move that his father used. He strained for a moment as the force of Ryoga's blast caused the now closed bubble to swell uncontrollably, but with a final, "Kyyyaahh!" he turned the chi back at Ryoga who was hit in the chest and sent flying off over the horizon."Damned pig!"  
  
"Ranma stop picking on Ryoga!" exclaimed Akane. In a graceful arc she swing her mallet for Ranma's head. For some reason though she missed. She opened her eyes to see Ranma still standing where he had been but in front of him was the head and a large part of the handle to her mallet, in her hands was only the grip.  
  
"You stupid uncute tomboy! I wasn't attacking p-chan. He attacked me and then when he was about to use the shi shi hokodan, you came running out here, dragging Nabiki. If I had dodged it you both would be dead, that's how much Ryoga care's about your lives!" His speech concluded, Ranma swept past the two girls and went into the house.  
****  
"Good going Akane." said Nabiki sarcastically.  
  
"Shut up," growled the girl."I just know it was Ranma's fault, it's always Ranma's fault."  
  
"Ryoga attacked Ranma, I saw it with my own eyes and you've seen the same thing dozens of times."  
  
"Ranma's always picking on him, making fun of his directional problem and calling him p-chan."  
  
"So what. Ryoga tries to kill him on a regular basis, don't you think he has the right to call him names."  
  
"He wouldn't try to 'hurt' Ranma if he would stop being so mean to him!"  
  
"If you remember, Ryoga was intent on killing Ranma when he first showed up even though Ranma was treating him like a friend."  
  
Akane paused, no good response at hand.  
  
"I will tell you that they have reasons to hate each other, but it's none of my business and the information would be too expensive anyway, so you'll have to find out on you own."  
  
"But Ranma, what he did..." She raised the four inch piece of mallet handle to eye-level."I don't know how to handle him. He's just been acting so different lately."  
  
"You mean he's finally gotten tired of you abusing him? Can you blame him? I'm sure that you wouldn't like it if he beat you up every time you made him angry." Nabiki knew she had said the wrong the moment it left her mouth, especially when Akane paled visibly.  
  
"What if...?" she asked, frightened at the thought.  
  
Sigh. Nabiki thumped Akane lightly on the forehead."Don't make me knock some sense into you for real. This is Ranma we're talking about, sexist pig extraordinare. He won't hit girls, especially you." Hopefully he won't.  
  
Wordlessly Akane nodded and without retreiving the remains of her mallet went to find Ranma. When her sister was back in the house, Nabiki sat down heavily on the back porch, a certain pigtailed martial artist on her mind.  
****  
Ranma was laying on his futon in the guest room, lost in thought. By now he only remembered bits and pieces of the dream from the night before but what he did remember was playing havoc with his emotions. The image of Nabiki looking back at him with love and caring seemed stuck in his mind. The look of pain on her face in the dream when she realized that Tokyo had fallen made Ranma want to seek her out now and hold her.  
  
"Ranma?" Akane popped her head into the room.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"I, well, I, uh wanted to say I was sorry for trying to hit you after you saved Nabiki and me." She still hadn't came through the doorway. She started to say somethingelse but changed her mind and pulled her head back into the hallway.  
  
"Akane, wait," said Ranma. If Nabiki was right and Akane was scared of him, he had to set her straight.   
  
This time she slid the door open and stepped into the room."What is it Ranma, I already apologized?"  
  
"I'm not mad, you just didn't realize what was happening." He continued after a moment,"I talked to Nabiki and she said that you're scared of me, are you really?"  
  
Anger and pride welled up in the girl and almost without thought she screamed,"Why would I be scared of a pervert like you?!" Having forgotten to replace her ruined mallet, she settled for the verbal rebuff and stormed off.  
  
"Should've known better," muttered Ranma to himself. His patience was rapidly wearing thin with Akane and he didn't even know.  
****  
  
Genma and Soun were playing shogi, oblivious to happenings around them.  
  
"I tell you Tendo, the boy is incredible," he said after his friend sneezed and he turned the board around.  
  
"Yes, the school's continuence is assured. But may I ask why you taught him the forbidden techniques, I thought that you sealed them away because they were too dangerous?"  
  
"They are, in the hands of lesser men." Then in a rare show of character he said,"That's why I sealed them, even from myself, but Ranma I believe can handle the responsibility. Plus when he chooses Akane, there are going to be some very powerful and upset people out to get them."  
  
Soun, in awe of his friend reverently said,"You are very wise my friend. Now how about some sake!?"  
****  
Ranma and Akane were running to school the next morning, both having overslept.  
  
"This is all your fault Ranma!" Akane had managed to bury most of her new found fear of Ranma under an even greater amount of anger than what she had displayed for the last year.  
  
"I woke up before you did," retorted Ranma.  
  
"Well if you hadn't beat up you father so badly saturday he would've woke you up this morning and you could've woke me up," said Akane like it was the most obvious thing in the world.  
  
Ranma looked at Akane like she had grown another head."You're serious aren't you?"  
  
"Of course I'm serious, baka!"  
  
As the school came into view Akane sped up in hopes of making it before she had to stand in the hall but Ranma slowed considerably, almost to a walk.   
  
"It's not possible." Akane was already in the school when Ranma said it, he wouldn't have cared is had heard it anyway."She couldn't be that stupid."  
  
From up above, Nabiki called down,"You had better hurry, Ranma, or you're going to be late for class."  
  
He shrugged and casually walked through the front doors. He definitely wasn't up to dealing with Nabiki at the moment, the dreams had seen to that.  
  
-Dream-  
  
Kasumi, clothes torn and bloody, latched onto her sister and sobbed uncontrollably. Ranma stood at the entrance to the alley, guarding the pair while they talked. He wasn't far enough away that he couldn't hear the conversation that eventually ensued after his wife managed to calm her sister.  
  
"It's so terrible," said Kasumi, wearilly.  
  
"I know, trust me, I know," replied Nabiki.   
  
"There were no warnings. The explosions started, then the gunfire. Where were the defenses? We were supposed to be safe."  
  
"They must have had spies, we've seen it happen before. They infiltrate the city and disable warning systems and poison the armies rations or water, though I'd never expect such a quick victory here."  
  
"Nabiki-chan, we had better get to someplace safer. You and I can defend ourselves but Kasumi could get caught in the cross fire," interrupted Ranma.  
  
"Your right, let's go." Nabiki helped her sister to her feet before standing up herself."Can you walk?" she asked, examining the wound at Kasumi's temple.  
  
"It's just a scratch, I'll be fine." Unnoticed by Kasumi, Nabiki had healed the minor wound as she examined it.   
  
"Kasumi, are there any shelters nearby where survivors could be?" Ranma asked after checking to see if the way was clear.  
  
"There may be a few, but the only one I know of is the one I work at."  
  
"We'll check it out before we leave," said Nabiki.  
  
The walk was only a few blocks, but along the way they encountered thousands of feeders, vile creatures formed from the negative emotions of humans, they fed on those same emotions, especially the ones experienced by a person dying violently. Only people extremely sensitive to magic or chi could see their small, primate-like bodies with their flat yellow eyed faces and lipless grins. Nabiki and Ranma slaughtered them by the dozen. When the group ran accross a patrol of men wearing power-armor and exo-frames they at first assumed them to be surviving militia but when the men opened fire with vulcan cannons and laser rifles, they were ripped apart by Ranma's chi fire and the sheer concussive force of Nabiki's psionic power like nothing more than wet newspaper.  
----  
Kasumi held her palm flat over a scanner that had been hidden in the back wall of a small grocery store. It flashed green in confirmation of Kasumi's identity and slid back into the wall. An passageway just big enough for a person to crawl through slid open at the base of the wall. Ranma went first, then Kasumi with Nabiki covering the rear.  
  
"Freeze!" ordered an old man wielding an Ak-47.  
  
Kasumi had lead them through three more security checks and now they were finally in the shelter itself. The shelter was actually a cavern about the size of a football field. People huddled together around tarp covered equipment and supplies.  
  
Ranma stared hard at the man, waiting for Nabiki and Kasumi to come through the entrance.  
  
"Tanaka, it's me, Kasumi," she said as she climbed from the crawlspace.  
  
"Kasumi, you're alive! We thought for sure that the bastards had gotten you." Tanaka released his grip in the rifle, letting the shoulder strap stop it from hitting the floor.  
  
"Mommy!" A little girl, followed by a middle-aged man came running.  
  
"Nabiki, Ono, oh how I'm glad to see you!" cried Kasumi as she swept her daughter and husband into a tight embrace.  
  
"I think Ranma's a better name myself," whispered Ranma to the older Nabiki.  
  
Hearing her husband's comment, Nabiki poked him in the ribs, eliciting a small laugh from him. It also drew the attention from Kasumi's reunion with her family to them.  
  
"Who are you? I've never seen you around before," said the old man as his hand moved back towards his rifle.  
  
Before Ranma could say something stupid that would probably get them shot at, Nabiki said,"I'm Kasumi's younger sister, Nabiki, and this is my husband, Ranma."  
----  
  
Ranma and Nabiki had eaten and taken a short shower when they were called to a meeting of everyone on the shelter.  
  
"All right people, I want you all to gather as much food and equipment as you can carry. Tanaka will be issuing firearms and ammunition by the water tanks," the apparent leader said.  
  
"What about the transports?" asked someone in the crowd of just under two hundred people.  
  
"The exit corridor has caved in. They will have to be left here," replied the leader.  
  
Curses flew wildly among the crowd. From the number of hover transports Ranma had seen, this shelter was meant for four times the amount of people currently using it.  
  
"Blast it open."   
  
"How are we supposed to get away on foot?"  
  
"It's too dangerous to-"  
----  
****  
  
Ranma was made abruptly aware of his surroundings as a thrown pale of water hit him. He looked to Akane who was standing in the hallway outside there classroom with an empty and full bucket of water. She had an annoyed yet smug grin on her face.  
  
Ranma just looked her in the eye hatefully then went into the classroom, only to return with her own buckets shortly after.  
****  
  
Nabiki sat back in her desk and tuned the math teacher out. He hadn't taught anything useful in two years anyway. She thought of the dream from the night before. This one was still fresh in her mind, Nabiki returned to the point she had been going over before Kuno's idiotic rambling had interrupted.  
  
-Dream-  
  
"It's too dangerous to attempt any sort of demolition. We could bring the ceiling down on our heads. We'll have to leave at night though to avoid the once-men."  
  
"Mommy I'm scared," said chibi-Nabiki.  
  
"Everything will work out, I promise," Kasumi assured her daughter. Ono gently patted the girl on the head and echoed his wife.  
  
"I can clear the corridor," said Ranma. He stepped forward so that he could be easily seen.   
  
"Are you a demolitionist, young man?" asked the leader.  
  
Please don't tell them. Nabiki knew Ranma better than that though. He wouldn't do any less than his best to help these people.  
  
"No, I'm a Knight of the Word and have the power to clear the corridor."  
  
Excited converstions broke out among the people until several minutes later when the leader finally managed to calm them by repeatedly slamming his fist on the hull of a transort he was standing beside.  
  
"If we give them a Knight, they let us go for sure!" exclaimed a man near Ranma.  
  
"We'll surely be able to leave then," said another.  
  
Nabiki really wished that he had kept his mouth shut. Many people held the few remaining Knights of the Word in contempt and some even went as far as blaming the fall of civilization on them.  
  
Author's Notes:Um, not much to say really.  
  
Ranma's fire based techniques are listed below. They are probably grammtically and structurally incorrect but they sound better in japanese than english.  
  
-entengouka(blazing hellfire)= twin fireballs fire from Ranma's hands.  
-happahibashira(exploding fire pillar)= pillar of flame that rises up around Ranma then explodes outward in a ring of fire.  
-bustachokusha(direct fire strike)= a stream of fire shot from Ranma's hand that cuts like a torch.  
-inseiarashi(meteor tempest)= dozens of small fire balls are fired from Ranma's hands at amaguriken speeds.  
-entenbakushin(blazing rush)= Ranma is enveloped in fire then he shoots towards his target at high speed.  
-houyoku(phoenix wings)= in a fire enhanced version of the kijin raishu dan, Ranma creates two huge arcs of flame that he throws at his target.  
-mokoufushichoutokkan(fierce phoenix rush)= Ranma forms a fire bird that he fires at a target, will track moving targets.  
  
Yama-sen-ken techiques that Ranma may use in the story-  
  
-kijin raishu dan(demon god assault bomb)= a chi powered vacuum blade.  
-sai dai kyu kijin raishu dan(first rate demon god assault bomb)= larger and more powerful version of the kijin raishu dan.  
-kijin dai ran bu(demon god big mad dance)= forms multiple vacuum blades.  
-kijin makaze raishu(demon god evil wind assault)= using his battle aura, Ranma surrounds himself in hundreds of weak vacuum blades and forms himself into a projectile of solid slashing wind.  
  
Umi-sen-ken techniques that Ranma may use in the story-  
(the aura cloaking isn't listed since it is much like battle aura, and will be indicated as such whenezer used)  
  
-haku dato shin sho(white snake reliable fist)= a series of finger strikes that causes a person's chi to be blown out of their back.  
*-goshin dai ryu sei fu(body defense shooting star cloth)= by wrapping oneself in cloth and focusing chi into it properly, one can become invisible.  
*-yosha ton kai ho(demon deep sea wrap)= by properly infusing cloth with chi, an opponent's attack can be held within it then turned against them.  
  
*Ranma no longer needs to use the cloth, his battle aura/shield is now sufficient.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and its characters belong to Rumiko   
Takahashi and Viz Video. I am only using their characters   
for the entertainment of others. Terry Brooks and the   
publisher of his books own all the characters and ideas that   
I use from them.   
  
Darkness Ahead Chapter 4:  
  
Nabiki was just trying to remember what a Knight of the Word was a few minutes after the teacher had asked her a question when she heard the explosion.  
****  
Ryoga ran for his life. This was all Ranma's fault, he was sure. Just another reason that the pigtailed boy must die as far as he was concerned. He dodged out of the way of another one of the energy balls that the flying girl had been shooting at him for the last three hours.  
  
"Get back here you pervert!!" she yelled then hurled a much larger ball of energy at him, this one easily a meter in diameter.  
  
He narrowly dodged it, the explosion that it generated did, however throw him a dozen meters forward just in time to miss being pummeled by a dozen small ball of energy. In his path Ryoga barely noticed the wall that he plowed through. Not realizing that he was at Furinkan High, and as lost as ever, he continued running and dodging until one of the girl's attacks, a beam of emerald energy, hit him in the back and knocked him to the ground.  
  
"I've got you now." The girl held her hands above her head and began building up energy within them."Take this!"  
****  
Nearly every student in the school was observing the one-sided battle in awe.  
  
"Wow, even Ranma can't fly," stated oon of the boys in Ranma's class.  
  
"Isn't he that boy that's always fighting with Ranma?" asked a girl as she pointed at Ryoga.  
  
"Yeah, it looks like she's about to kill him too."  
  
Akane watched in horror as the girl, dressed in an unfamiliar school uniform, readied what appeared to be a killing blow."Ranma you've got to stop her before she hurts Ryoga!"  
  
Ranma was busy fighting an internal battle. Should he let p-chan get wasted and have a good number of problems die with him or she he save bacon breath. In the end his honor wouldn't allow him to see a defenseless, well in Ryoga's case just too retarded to fight back, person be harmed. Throwing open the window he hopped onto the sill and in a single leap, covered the distance to Ryoga.  
  
"Take this!" The ball of energy, now pulsing in a rainbow of colors raced towards its target only to be knocked aside by a red blur.  
  
Ranma stood beside Ryoga, who was staring at his attacker, mummbling, "I didn't see anything," repeatedly.  
  
"I don't know who you are or what you want to hurt p-chan for but if anybody is going to beat the pig up it's me!" yelled Ranma to the girl.  
  
"How dare you interfere with my quest for justice!?" raged the girl.  
  
Wondering if she was somehow related to Kuno, Ranma was narrowly missed by one of the girl's multicolored energy balls."Hey what's the big idea!?"  
  
"A friend of mine enemy is also an enemy," misquoted the girl who then fired a rapid series of energy balls at Ranma forcing him to dodge frantically around the courtyard.  
  
Ranma's foot caught on a piece of debris causing him to stumble and fall to the ground just as another salvo of energy balls rained down. This time they all hit their mark.  
  
The entire became quiet for a moment. Had Ranma Saotome finally been defeated? By a girl no less?  
  
The silence was quickly broken though by twin screams of,"Ranma!" one from Akane and strangely enough one from Nabiki.  
  
"Now for you, pervert," said the girl when she turned to once again face Ryoga.  
  
From the still unsettled dust that surrounded the area where Ranma had been hit shot a blur of red that resolved itself into Ranma. Hanging in the air he called out to his and Ryoga's attacker,"Want to try that again?!"  
  
Spinning around to confront Ranma, the girl's eyes became as wide as those of every other person viewing the fight."How-?"  
  
"You've got one more chance," Ranma said as he suddenly grew an aura of fire that strongly resembled a huge bird.  
  
A look of fury sudden crossed the girl's face. She said,"I, Rumiko Takahasi, of the Takahashi clan of psycho-mancers and greatest of my line, challenge you to a duel to the death!"  
  
Used to numerous challenges, Ranma took it in stride and smiled condescendingly at Rumiko."I don't fight girls."  
  
Rumiko looked ready to burst a blood vessel. Her body began to emit light in destructive waved that tore the foliage from nearby trees and pushed the still stupidly staring Ryoga into the side of the building.  
  
"Arrrggghhh! Die!!!" A beam of intense white light shot from the mass of light that was now so bright that the girl could no longer be seen.  
  
Ranma's aura drew in on itself and formed into a dense red bubble just as the beam struck him. The beam enveloped the bubble and continued on as far as the eye could see. When the light finally faded nearly all of the students who were watching had minor sun-burns and the direct area around Rumiko was a charred testament to the strength of her aura. Rumiko herself was on her hands and knees panting from the expenditure of energy. Though completely exhausted, she happily looked to where a nice pile of ashes should have fallen but nearly burst into tears when she saw a now deeply tanned Ranma smirking at her.  
  
"I win." Then before she could react, Ranma rushed forward and struck a pressure point on the back of her neck rendering her unconscious.  
****  
An hour later everyone was back in class and the teacher was trying to teach. Governmrent agents had arrived within minutes of the incident and had taken Rumiko into protective custody, no doubt so no overzealous scientists could experiment on her. Ryoga had wondered off after telling Ranma that he 'Hadn't seen anything.' Now Ranma fidgetted nervously as he once again surveyed the room. He had no aversion to being the center of attention in a fight but the slack-jawed expressions of complete astonishment he was receiving from everyone, including Akane, had him on edge and jumping at the slightest sound. So what if he had flown and played with fire, in his mind he had just given away a serious advantage of suprise to save someone that he had hated for nearly a year.  
  
"Something wrong, Mister Saotome?" asked the teacher sarcastically. He had convinced himself that he imagined the entire incident. It was just stress getting to him.  
  
"How about making everybody stop staring at me."  
  
Easily enough done."In the hall, Saotome."  
  
Ranma didn't care, in fact he was grateful. Staring at the wall was a lot less boring than math class and it was true that he could get away from the unblinking gazes of his classmates. Soon, though the class ended and Ranma was forced to return to the classroom, but this time the teacher who had come to teach history joined in the new sport: Ranma watching.  
  
Finally the lunch bell rang and the students rushed out of the classrom to gossip about Ranma's latest fight, leaving Ranma alone. Thankful for some peace, he took from his school bag the bento that Kasumi made for him and began to eat.  
****  
Nabiki walked the halls in a daze, questions floating through her mind. The memories that she still retained from the latest dream contained Ranma doing the exact same thing to demon's and robots that he did to the crazy girl trying to kill Ryoga earlier. How was that possible though? She wasn't psychic and the dreams were just that, dreams, so how did she already know that Ranma could fly and make fire? Luckily her associates were handling business so her little break from her lunch time duties wasn't costing her any profit.  
  
"Maybe I should ask Ranma." Nah, he didn't have any reason to help her, she didn't deserve his help. In the quiet hall, Nabiki heard a loud thumping coming from one of the classrooms, Ranma and Akane's homeroom to be exact. "Akane's probably beating up on Ranma because he didn't tell her what he could do."  
****  
Ranma, enthusastically beating his head on his desk, didn't notice Nabiki enter the room.  
  
"Stupid me," he accused himself."I just had to go and do that. Now everyone is even more scared of me, just like in the dreams..." Ranma trailed off as he looked up and saw Nabiki staring at him wide eyed."Not you too," he muttered dejectedly.  
  
"What dreams?" Nabiki asked. Could Ranma be experiencing the same dreams that she was?  
  
"Oh, uh, just some nightmares," he replied nervously.  
  
Nabiki could easily see that there was something Ranma wasn't telling her so she asked,"Are you a Knight of the word?"  
  
Ranma's response was to roll his eyes into the back of his head and faint dead away onto the floor.  
  
Ranma's reaction was not what she had expected. It confirmed that they were somehow sharing similar dreams,Ranma's possibly being ones where they were married and wandering an apocalyptic wasteland like hers. Nabiki glanced at her watch. If she hurried she could make a call before class restarted.  
****  
"Nekohaten, Cologne speaking."  
  
"Is Shampoo around?"  
  
"No, she is unfortunately sick in bed with the flu. May I ask who's speaking and why you wished to know of my great-granddaughter's whereabouts?"  
  
"It's Nabiki Tendo and I didn't want Shampoo to know that I'm bringing Ranma by there after school today."  
  
"Why do you plan on bringing son-in-law by the restaurant?"  
  
"For reasons to complicated and important to say over the phone."  
  
"Very well, I'll be waiting."  
****  
When Ranma woke up to find no Nabiki in sight he assumed he had just had another bad dream and returned to his desk seconds before students began piling into the classroom.  
  
Once again the subject of intense study by his peers, Ranma decided to attempt sleep, something he had been avoiding since five minutes after school had begun, in an attemt to experience as few dreams as possible.  
****  
"Come on Ranma, I want you to tell me how you did that stuff today," said Akane. She firmly gripped his shoulder and pulled him alongside her as they traversed the hallways of Furinkan.   
  
Half-way to the gate Nabiki broke from a conversation with an associate and joined her sister and Ranma who was being as much dragged as he was walking on his own.  
  
"Just who I wanted to see." Akane said a quick greeting and continued towards home."Akane, I need to borrow Ranma," she said, finally after figuring out how to get her sister out of the picture for a small time.  
  
"What, so you can sell him to those government guys who took that crazy girl away? I'm sure the pervert wouldn't mind a chance to get another fiance."  
  
"Hey! I haven't said anything about a fiance," said Ranma, jerking himself free of Akane's grip."Why would I need more fiances when I've got such a wonderful one as you?" The words may have been kind but they were said with such sarcasm that Kasumi would have taken offense.  
  
"What's that supposed to mean?!"  
  
"I think it was an insult," replied Nabiki helpfully.  
  
Ranma found himself caught off guard by the descending mallet since he was too busy directing an unintentional look of hurt at Nabiki. Akane, proper punishment dealt in full, left her stunned fiance on the sidewalk as she ran home.  
  
"What'd you do that for? You knew she would react like that." He got to his feet, none the worse for wear.  
  
"I'm sorry," apologized Nabiki sincerely,"but I needed your help and Akane would have been a problem."  
  
Irritated, he asked,"Well what do you need my help for?"  
  
"I can't explain here."  
  
"Well where can you explain why you of all people need help?" This Nabiki was nothing like the one in his dreams. His Nabiki was warm and caring, the real Nabiki was little more than heartless.  
  
"The Nekohaten." She winced in anticipation.  
  
Understanding dawned then, she intended to trick him into a date with Shampoo or was planning on getting compromising photos of him with the amorous amazon. Ranma turned on his heel and proceeded to walk home.  
  
"Wait!" She ran to him."Please, this is important." Nabiki knew that she was begging and pretty much making a fool of herself, but she had to find out. She had plenty of time and the influence to squash any rumors this behavior could bring if witnessed by others.  
  
Ranma turned and in Nabiki's eyes he saw desperation and fear. It hurt him a bit to see the face of someone he was growing to care about in the world of his dreams suffering, even if the person behind the face was only a pale shadow of his Nabiki. That small hurt didn't show on his face though, it was buried far too deep in his subconscious.  
  
"Shampoo is sick. She won't be able to bother you, she won't even know that you're there," pleaded Nabiki. She nearly took hold of his hand to reassure him but feared the reaction that would almost certainly result.  
  
"No tricks?"  
  
"None, I just need your's and Cologne's help with a problem." She didn't mention the title 'Knight of the Word' since since the last time he heard it, Ranma had fainted. If she had told him the problem was due to their shared dreams, there would have been nothing she could do to make him cooperate, not anymore.  
****  
The sign read closed but they entered anyway. Nabiki assumed that Cologne had respected her request of privacy and closed the restaurant and not just because of Shampoo's illness.  
  
"Old Ghoul, we're here." Ranma sat himself at a booth and began drumming his fingers on teh table top impatiently.  
  
A short series of 'thuds', the sound of Cologne using her staff to travel, and the two teenagers were being faced her. She took a seat accross from them and waited.  
  
"Okay, what am I here for?" asked Ranma.  
  
"I too would like to know," added Cologne.  
  
Nabiki was glad that she had Ranma trapped in the booth, her seat on the outside, otherwise he would surely bolt when she answered."I have been having disturbing dreams the last few days. I believe Ranma is too."  
  
"W-what dreams?" Ranma asked, nearly in a pamic. It had to be a bad coincidence.  
  
"The ones where you and I are married. Am I right?"  
  
Cologne, despite a life centuries long where she had experienced wonderous things, facefaulted.  
  
Ranma hung his head in shame, the near opposite of what Nabiki was expecting. He couldn't deny it. If Akane found out that he was having dreams of being married to her middle sister he had little chance of escaping at the least a long hospital stay."No tricks, huh?"  
  
He sounded like his life was over. Nabiki nearly cried at the thought of Ranma reacting that way to a marriage with her. She tried to brush his cheek with her hand in a simple reassuring gesture, but he slapped it away without looking. Why was she acting like this? Her intentions had been to find a way to rid herself of the emotion altering dreams, not this.  
  
Cologne who had watched the little scene, asked,"What are these dreams like, exactly? Are they surreal or hallucionatory?"  
  
It was easy for Nabiki to regain some control over the emotions threatening to break free, she had practiced for years."No, they are very vivid."  
  
"What are you doing in them?"  
  
"In mine, Ranma and I are wandering across the globe after the apocalypse. Both of us are in the service of some force called the Word. Most of the details and facts of the dreams fade away shortly after I wake up, though."  
  
Ranma made no attempt to contradict Nabiki. Cologne looked ready to burst.  
  
"So can you make them go away?" Ranma asked impatiently.  
  
Shaking her head slowly, the elder said,"This shouldn't be happening." She suddenly seemed to show her years even moreso than normal.  
  
"What shouldn't be happening?" Nabiki was disturbed the change in Cologne's posture, she seemed burdened.  
  
"Because of an oath I took before either of your grandparents were born, I can tell you no more than to seek answers in Gwynedd." Her answer carried with it finality that Nabiki knew was unshakable, Ranma totally ignored it.  
  
"What do you mean you can't tell us?! This is important! Someone is screwing around with my head and after all the times that you and Shampoo have done it's gotten pretty damned annoying!!" Ranma's battle aura was now dimly evident, a testament to lose of the normally ferocious grip he maintained on it.  
  
"I'm truly sorry, but I can tell you no more."  
  
Ranma, in one fluid, and seemingly impossible motion, flipped himself sideways over Nabiki, then stalked out of the Nekohaten.  
  
"Isn't there anything you can tell us?" asked Nabiki.  
  
"Ask your questions and I'll answer them if I can."  
  
Nabiki didn't know what to ask. All possible information that she could have recieved from the woman had been effectively cut off by her oath."What's a psycho-mancer?" she finally asked out of personal curiosity.  
  
"That I can answer, but tell me, where did you here that term?"  
  
"At school today a girl claiming to be one attacked and nearly killed Ryoga. If Ranma hadn't stopped her I'm sure that she would have."  
  
"Son-in-law fought a psycho-mancer and sustained no visible injuries, that is incredible," wondered the ancient woman.  
  
"What is a psycho-mancer though?"  
  
"Psycho-mancers are people with the ability to control a substance or form of energy with their mind. The Amazon Nation was founded by a female psycho-mancer who could control water."  
  
Nabiki immediately asked,"Is there any side-effects, I mean bad ones?" She couldn't hide the concern in her voice.  
  
Cologne answered,"There are several side-effects," Nabiki's tensed,"none of them are harmful, though. Why would you wish to know?" she asked suspiscously.  
  
"Today when Ranma fought that girl, the psycho-mancer, he flew around and surrounded himself in fire, there was that giant fire-bird aura too."  
  
"That does not mean son-in-law is a psycho-mancer. He could be using his chi to imitate the fire that you speak of and flight is not unheard of, Prince Herb of the Musk flew when he fought son-in-law."   
  
To Nabiki, Cologne sounded too ready to believe her own theory."It was real fire, trust me. I've seen enough chi blasts and battle auras this past year to be able to tell the difference." Now it was Nabiki's turn to ask a question."What side effects do they experience?"  
  
"Once the power awakens within a person their lifespan increases ten-fold, diseases can not take hold in their bodies, and they gain immunity to whatever it is they control: Ranma would be immune to fire if he is indeed a psycho-mancer."  
  
"I guess I don't really have anymore questions. Thanks for your time." Nabiki stood and exited the Nekohaten.  
  
When Nabiki was gone Cologne quickly hopped to her room. If Ranma was indeed a psycho-mancer he would be an even greater addition to the tribe, but if he was to be a Knight, things were about to get interesting.  
****  
"Stupid Old Ghoul!" shouted Ranma. He was sitting under the canal bridge contenting himself with melting small pebbles and throwing them into the water. He was so distraceted that he didn't even notice Nabiki behind him.  
  
"I thought I'd find you here," she said after sitting down next to Ranma.  
  
"You found me, so what do you want?" he asked gruffly.  
  
Nabiki recoiled at the anger in Ranma's voice."Please Ranma, can we talk?"  
  
"About what?"  
  
"The dreams that you and I are having and what you did today."  
****  
  
Author's Notes: In the coming chapters more details will be revealed and Ranma and Nabiki will face their feelings.  
  
Ranma's fire based techniques are listed below. They are probably grammtically and structurally incorrect but they sound better in japanese than english.  
  
-entengouka(blazing hellfire)= twin fireballs fire from Ranma's hands.  
-happahibashira(exploding fire pillar)= pillar of flame that rises up around Ranma then explodes outward in a ring of fire.  
-bustachokusha(direct fire strike)= a stream of fire shot from Ranma's hand that cuts like a torch.  
-inseiarashi(meteor tempest)= dozens of small fire balls are fired from Ranma's hands at amaguriken speeds.  
-entenbakushin(blazing rush)= Ranma is enveloped in fire then he shoots towards his target at high speed.  
-houyoku(phoenix wings)= in a fire enhanced version of the kijin raishu dan, Ranma creates two huge arcs of flame that he throws at his target.  
-mokoufushichoutokkan(fierce phoenix rush)= Ranma forms a fire bird that he fires at a target, will track moving targets.  
  
Yama-sen-ken techiques that Ranma may use in the story-  
  
-kijin raishu dan(demon god assault bomb)= a chi powered vacuum blade.  
-sai dai kyu kijin raishu dan(first rate demon god assault bomb)= larger and more powerful version of the kijin raishu dan.  
-kijin dai ran bu(demon god big mad dance)= forms multiple vacuum blades.  
-kijin makaze raishu(demon god evil wind assault)= using his battle aura, Ranma surrounds himself in hundreds of weak vacuum blades and forms himself into a projectile of solid slashing wind.  
  
Umi-sen-ken techniques that Ranma may use in the story-  
(the aura cloaking isn't listed since it is much like battle aura, and will be indicated as such whenezer used)  
  
-haku dato shin sho(white snake reliable fist)= a series of finger strikes that causes a person's chi to be blown out of their back.  
*-goshin dai ryu sei fu(body defense shooting star cloth)= by wrapping oneself in cloth and focusing chi into it properly, one can become invisible.  
*-yosha ton kai ho(demon deep sea wrap)= by properly infusing cloth with chi, an opponent's attack can be held within it then turned against them.  
  
*Ranma no longer needs to use the cloth, his battle aura/shield is now sufficient.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and its characters belong to Rumiko   
Takahashi and Viz Video. I am only using their characters   
for the entertainment of others. Terry Brooks and the   
publisher of his books own all the characters and ideas that   
I use from them.  
  
Darkness Ahead Chapter 5:  
  
  
"Yeah," answered Ranma. He really didn't want to talk to Nabiki about anything but she deserved some answers, at least the one from his dreams did.  
  
"I talked to Cologne about that girl today and how you fought her. I believe that you are a psycho-mancer like her."  
  
"What are psycho-mancers?"  
  
"People who can control certain things with your mind. You can control fire, I'd guess."  
  
"That's obvious," remarked Ranma sarcastically."Anything else I should know? I'm not going to grow extra arms or anything?"  
  
Nabiki couldn't help herself, she had to laugh a little at the mental picture of a four armed Ranma that pooped into her head. Seeing Ranma's venomous glare she stopped herself and said,"I'm sorry. You don't have to worry about anything bad happening because you are a psycho-mancer. In fact there are several benefits. Now you'll never get sick, you can live ten times longer than you would have, and fire won't hurt you."  
  
"Great, now the gods will have even more time to destroy my sanity," said Ranma quietly to himself.  
  
Nabiki heard and had to bite her lip to stop the words of comfort that nearly sprang forth. Ranma wouldn't apreciate her attempts at kindness, he'd assume that there was a price. Pretending that she hadn't heard, Nabiki said,"Don't worry about the dreams. I'll find this Gwynedd place that Cologne mentioned and we can make whoever is causing us to have them to stop."  
  
Ranma nodded and resumed melting pebbles and throwing them into the canal.  
  
Nabiki saw that Ranma was finished and decided to visit the library to do a little research.  
****  
Ranma waited another hour before heading home. He just didn't feel like dealing with Akane today, she was sure to find something to blame on him. Kasumi was in the kitchen already preparing dinner when he entered."Have you seen Akane, Kasumi?"  
  
"I believe she is in the dojo practicing," replied Kasumi with a smile.  
  
Ranma thanked her and walked to the dojo.  
  
"Where have you been?" demanded Akane. She just knew that Ranma was up to something with her sister. That pervert.  
  
"I was doing business with Nabiki." He paid her no further attention, walking past her and to the opposite side of the dojo where he began a kata with such speed that he became nothing more than a blur to Akane.  
  
Upset at being ignored, Akane threw a bokken into the blur and was rewarded a moment later as Ranma came crashing to the floor with the bokken entangled in his legs.  
  
"Hmmph, serves you right," declared Akane with her arms crossed under her breasts.  
  
"Grrrr," growled Ranma. He didn't even bother to remove the bokken from between his legs, nor did he give acknowledgement to the fact that his right leg was broken. He did turn the wooden sword into a pile of ash, though, then he turned to Akane and glared at her with so much anger that instead of coming to his aid like she had intended upon noticing his leg, that she ran away crying.  
  
Kasumi came running into the dojo a minute later, dragging Nabiki with her. They found Ranma floating a few inches above the floor, his right leg dangling uselessly.  
  
"Oh my, Ranma I'll call Dr. Tofu," said Kasumi. She ran off to make the call before anyone could think to stop her.  
  
Nabiki approached Ranma and offered,"Here Ranma, take my hand, I'll help you get comfortable."  
  
Ranma took her hand without speaking and allowed her to pull him over to a stack of mats.  
  
"Akane said that you were hurt and ran to her room. How'd you get hurt?" Nabiki began rolling his pantleg up until a few inches below his knee she came to a large purple bruise."Oh Ranma!"  
  
"She did this," he spit out,"for no reason at all she threw a bokken at me when I was doing a kata and I was too distracted to notice until I was already down."  
  
Nabiki made a dangerous sound deep in the back of her throat and was about to go in search of her younger sister to maim her, but Kasumi came in and said,"Dr. Tofu should be here in a few minutes."  
  
"Kasumi, Akane hurt Ranma. Could you go talk to her and find out what her problem is?" asked Nabiki."I don't think I want to see her right now."  
  
Kasumi frowned and gripped her apron tightly in her hands."I think I will." Kasumi then went in search of Akane. Although she meant to give her a stern lecture, it would be no less punishment than if she had been flogged.  
  
Nabiki could see that Ranma was angry easyily enough. His fists were clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white and the tendons in his neck were streched tightly. To divert his mind she told him of her findings at the library."I found out where Gwynedd is, Ranma."  
  
Instantly Ranma relaxed and asked,"Is it close by?"  
  
He sounded so hopeful that Nabiki hated herself for answering her question."No, I'm afraid not. It's in Great Britain."  
  
"Wha...bu..that's like thousands of miles away! How are we supposed to get there?" Ranma slumped back into the mats ignoring the pain in his leg. His confidence wasn't exactly at its highest either.  
  
Nabiki too, knew the distance, but she also knew just how they were going to get there."How do you feel about air planes?"  
  
Ranma realized what Nabiki was talking about and his eyes lit up."I didn't even think of that." Then he seemed to sober and asked,"Do you think you can wait until my leg heals?"  
  
"I don't mind waiting," the dreams didn't really bother her, she actually liked them,"but maybe I should go ahead and make the trip and get it over with."  
  
Ranma shook his head and said,"No, you can't go by yourself. It's not safe for tourists to be by themselves in foreign countries and this whole Knight business could be dangerous."  
  
"I didn't know you cared," said Nabiki mockingly, but she really was moved by Ranma's concern.  
  
"It's not like I have a choice in the matter."  
  
"What do you mean?" Nabiki feared his answer.  
  
"Don't worry about it," he deflected her question."I should be healed up in a couple of weeks and we can go get this crap staightened out."  
  
"A couple of weeks? Ranma, your leg is broken and no matter how good you are at martial arts you won't be ready to travel for a while." She emphasized this by poking Ranma's leg causing him to yelp in pain."I'm sorry, Ranma," she said with enough sincerity that Ranma didn't become angry.  
  
"I broke my arm a month before oyagi and me went to China, it only took a couple of weeks to heal, then we swam all the way there."  
  
Nabiki would have called anyone else bad liars if they claimed what Ranma just had, but she knew not to doubt Ranma when it came to wierd stuff. He was also the most honest person she knew, short of Kasumi.  
  
"Right this way." Kasumi led Dr. Tofu into the dojo.   
  
Amazingly, the good doctor didn't lapse into hysteric blubbering in Kasumi's prescence. He knelt down next to Ranma and Nabiki and began examining the injury."Does it hurt badly?"  
  
"No sensei, it's only throbbing a bit. It did hurt at first."  
  
Gently, Dr. Tofu prodded the large bruise and the area directly around it."This is a very immature prank to pull, Ranma," said the doctor sternly.  
  
"Huh?" The two Tendo sisters and Ranma said.  
  
"This bruise is several days old and there are no broken bones." He pointed to the bruise that only minutes before had been deep purple. It was now mostly yellow and brown with some of the old purple in the center.  
  
Ranma's jaw was too wide open to speak so Nabiki said,"But Dr. Tofu, I saw it myself. Ranma's leg was broken and that bruise was much worse just a few minutes ago."  
  
Ranma nodded his agreement and began to flex his leg.  
  
"Could it have healed that quickly Ono-c..Dr. Tofu?" Kasumi asked. Ranma and Nabiki looked at her like she had grown another head causing her to blush crimson when she realized her slip of the tongue had been noticed.  
  
Ranma and Nabiki exchanged knowing glances. Kasumi and Dr. Tofu were married in the dreams after all.  
  
Dr. Tofu, trying to change the subject back to Ranma's leg, asked,"Ranma, have you ever broke a bone that healed this fast?"  
  
"No." He never stopped flexing his leg as if he expected it to break at any time.  
  
"What about your arm? You said that it healed in a couple weeks." Nabiki had a good idea what the cause of Ranma's miraculous recovery was.  
  
"Yeah, but that's a lot different than ten minutes," he pointed out.  
  
"Two weeks. Ten minutes. Even for someone with as strange a life as you, Ranma, that is incredible." The doctor once again looked at the bruise and to his astonishment it was almost completely faded away.  
  
"This must be because you're a psycho-mancer, Ranma."  
  
Dr. Tofu and Kasumi looked at Nabiki, wondering what she was talking about. She briefly explained the day's events and the discussion with Cologne after school, leaving out information on the dreams.  
  
"I've never heard of your condition before Ranma, but if I had to make a guess I'd say that you are in no danger."  
  
"It's no big deal really. I'll be fine."  
  
Kasumi invited the doctor to supper but he declined the invitation. He had a patient coming in at six who couldn't reschedule.  
****  
"Did you talk to Akane?" Nabiki asked Kasumi. Ranma was in the bathroom washing up and Genma and Soun hadn't gotten back from picking Nodoka up at the train station.  
  
"No, she wouldn't let me in her room and Dr. Tofu arrived before I had a chance to reprimand her."  
  
"Well, she is going to listen to me wether she likes it or not." Firmly decided, Nabiki went to give Akane a piece of her mind.  
****  
Five minutes later Nabiki returned to the Kitchen. Her fists were clenched and if she had had proper training she would have been generating a battle aura.  
  
"That little, spoiled, psychotic brat!" screamed Nabiki."She had the nerve to blame Ranma! Can you believe that?! She said he shouldn't have ignored her!"  
  
Kasumi frowned at both her sisters' behavior."I'm sure she'll see her mistake and apologize."  
  
"She's up there right now waiting for him to apologize to her!" Nabiki slammed her hand down on the table.  
  
"Oh my, Nabiki! Calm down please." Kasumi couldn't remember ever seeing Nabiki this emotional.  
  
"It's not fair!" she cried, slumping into a chair. Her anger seemed to seep away, to be replaced by sorrow."It's just so unfair!"  
  
Kasumi is a much more intelligent person than she is given credit for, but now the poor girl was as oblivious as to what was going on as she normally appeared to be. She took the chair next to Nabiki and asked,"What's not fair? Are you worried about Ranma and Akane's relationship?" Nabiki started crying.  
  
"What relationship?" she managed to say."Akane abuses Ranma and doesn't care about his feelings at all, but Ranma loves her and hates me." No longer could she hold in the emotions that had been building for the last several days. Nabiki collapsed into her sister's arms and sobbed until she passed out from the strain.  
  
"Oh my," whispered Kasumi. The idea of Nabiki caring so deeply for Ranma was almost to hard for even a seasoned veteran of Nerima like Kasumi to believe.  
****  
Ranma was about to round the corner and enter the kitchen to get a snack when he heard the sounds of a girl crying coming from within. He stopped outside the door and listened.  
  
"What relationship?" she managed to say."Akane abuses Ranma and doesn't care about his feelings at all, but Ranma loves her and hates me."   
  
Ranma realized that it was Nabiki crying and nearly fell over in shock. Did Nabiki care about him? If she did, why had she always been so manipulative and cold towards him?  
  
Kasumi, helping a still crying Nabiki to walk almost ran into Ranma. She looked mildly suprised, but when Nabiki caught sight of Ranma she looked horrified and tried to turn away so he couldn't see her crying.  
  
"Nabiki isn't feeling well Ranma, will you help me get her to her room?" asked Kasumi innocently.  
  
Ranma nodded and threw Nabiki's free arm over his shoulder to help support her. When they finally made it up the stairs and to Nabiki's room Kasumi waited until the other two were in the room before giving a gentle shove that resulted in them both falling to the floor, then she slid the door shut and hurried downstairs.  
****  
"I-uh-wh-um...sorry," stammered Ranma after he disentangled himself from Nabiki. He was blushing beet red.  
  
"Save it," murmurred the girl. She crawled into her bed and said,"I'd like some privacy."  
  
"Yeah...sure...privacy."   
****  
"Kasumi, what's wrong with Nabiki?" asked Ranma when he found Kasumi downstairs, once again tending to dinner. The girl was making no sense at all. It was almost like she actually cared about him.  
  
"Don't you think she could tell you that better than I could?"  
  
"Yeah, but she wanted to be alone."  
  
Kasumi sighed."Ranma, do you know why girls are always falling in love with you?"  
  
Ranma leaned against the wall and began nervously drumming his fingers on it."Hehehehe...never have been able to figure that one out."  
  
She smiled warmly and said,"I don't think anyone knows."  
  
"What are you getting at?"  
  
"Somehow you've managed to get Nabiki to fall for you," answered Kasumi casually. There was a thump behind her. She turned around to find Ranma sitting on the floor looking like he expected the world to end at any moment.  
  
"N-N-Nabiki," stuttered Ranma.  
  
Kasumi nodded and said,"I think she is very confused by her feelings and upset that Akane treats you so badly."  
  
"N-N-Nabiki...me."  
  
"She also believes that you hate her." Kasumi went back to cooking, letting Ranma sort through the information on his own time.  
  
Ranma couldn't figure out how Nabiki could have any feelings for him. She had always treated him so coldly and manipulated him with no concern for his safety. What had changed? The answer came in a flash. The dreams that they were both experiencing had to be the cause. He admitted to himself that he cared a great deal about the Nabiki from his dreams. The same must be true for Nabiki.  
****  
Ranma walked into Nabiki's room without knocking. He pulled Nabiki's desk chair to the side of her bed where she was studying a ledger and said to the suprised girl,"I know what's going on."  
  
Nabiki's face was tear stained and her eyes were red and puffy."Huh?"  
  
"The dreams, they're why you love me."  
  
Nabiki's face hardened into the emotionless mask she normally wore. Its effectiveness was less than adequate since her eyes looked so pained."I don't know what your talking about Saotome."  
  
"Sure you do. You never have been able to stand me but now you're in love with me. It's the dreams and this whole Knight of the Word crap that Cologne won't tell us anything about. Someone's messing with our heads, making us fall in love with each other." Ranma 'urked' and threw his hands over his mouth when he realized what he had said. The full body blush added to the effect.  
  
Nabiki's red eyes blinked and her mouth fell open slightly. Had he just admitted that he loved her too? Oh god, he didn't hate her!  
  
"Don't worry though, we can get it all straightened out and once things are back to normal no one will be able to find out, okay?"  
  
Did she want to go back to how she was? Before, she had been hopelessly lonely and mistreated Ranma in revenge for him not being what she had first expected when he arrived. Now, even if nothing ever came of the feelings that had been thrust upon her, Nabiki would rather keep them and cherish what she could.  
  
Ranma left her in thought.  
  
Author's Notes: It gets better.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and its characters belong to Rumiko   
Takahashi and Viz Video. I am only using their characters   
for the entertainment of others. Terry Brooks and the   
publisher of his books own all the characters and ideas that   
I use from them.  
  
Darkness Ahead Chapter 6:  
  
Nabiki clutched tightly to Ranma as they watched the last transport take flight. It carried the last of her family and a small bit of hope for the future.  
  
"We could still catch up with them," Ranma murmured into her ear.  
  
Nabiki shook her head weakly, and wiped a few tears from her face."They'll be safer without us to draw the Void's attention."  
  
Ranma nodded his agreement. A moment later he yelped in suprise as he was pinched on the butt. He looked down at Nabiki and shivered when he saw the gleam in her eyes. Damn, but the woman got horny at the strangest times.  
****  
Kasumi had finished her final check of the house an hour earlier and after enjoying a nice, quiet cup of tea all by herself was ready to go to bed. She quietly made her way up the stairs and was on the way to her room when she heard a strange sound from Nabiki's room. Fearful that it might have been that dreadful Kuno girl, she eased the door open in hopes of not alerting the tresspasser. The sight that greeted her eyes produced an "Oh my" heard for three blocks in all directions. There on Nabiki's bed was Nabiki and Ranma locked in a passionate and quiet improper imbrace. A small part of her mind not devoted to staying conscious or taking notes for herself marvelled at Ranma. Only a few hours ago he had a broken leg but now there were no signs of the injury at all as he rythmically thrust into Nabiki. It really was remarkable.  
  
Meanwhile two pairs of eyes seemed to gain focus. Ranma saw Nabiki and she saw him. They also came to the conclusion that they were no longer dreaming. This had the effect of startling them both badly enough that the entire household had time to gather before they could regain their senses.  
  
Soun and Genma collapsed in a heap against one another. Akane took in the scene and with no apparent reaction walked woodenly back to her room. And the newly arrived Nodoka beamed with pride for her manly son.  
  
Kasumi slid the door shut and began the laborous job of returning two grown men to their beds and snapping a woman out of a self induced trance.  
****  
Eventually Ranma gathered his wits enough to speak, barely."N-N-Na-Nabiki, I'm s-so so-r-ry."  
  
Nabiki buried her face in her hands and sighed heavily. How had this happened? How could it happen? They were dreaming. Just dreaming.  
  
Ranma mistook the girl's action as a precursor to crying and said,"Don't c-cry Nabiki. I-It's my fault, no one will blame you."  
  
Nabiki looked up at him, obviously not crying."Ranma, it's not your fault. I'm not mad, I'm too happy to be mad."  
  
His eyes were now at maximum size and his pupils were dialated to their fullest."Wha...but...I mean...how?"  
  
She slipped from the bed with the sheet drapped over her shoulders and glided over to Ranma's corner."You know what's going to happen now don't you? Everybody saw us in here together. Our father's will probably have a priest here by morning."  
  
Ranma slumped back into the corner with tears in his eyes. He wouldn't let them fall, not ever."Oh god," he whispered,"I've ruined your life."  
  
She laid her hand on his knee gently, making him flinch but he didn't try to dislodge it."Ranma, remember what you said about me loving you and you loving me because of the dreams? You were right. I've been in love with you for almost two weeks. I'd guess the same about you," Ranma nodded almost imperceptibly,"so if we love each other, dreams or not, would it be so bad to be married?"  
  
"But, the others, they'll be so mad and you can't fight back and Akane..." Nabiki jerking her hand away stopped him.  
  
"Oh, I understand! You love me, but you love my bitch sister more!" she hissed, near tears.  
  
"No, that's not it," he replied quickly."She's your sister, what if she disowns you? I wouldn't want to split your family."  
  
Oh."I'm sorry, I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions, this is so new and so much has changed." Still keeping the sheet around her, Nabiki manuevered herself into a position leaning on Ranma.  
  
Soon Nabiki's breathing evened out and deepened. Ranma laid his arm around Nabiki's shoulders and whispered to himself,"I am so so dead."  
****  
Kasumi went about her business the next morning, the only deviation in her routine adding an extra place for Nodoka at the breakfast table. The older woman had been gone nearly a month. She was now closed up in the sitting room with Genma and Soun. Kasumi worried that she knew what was being discussed.  
  
Akane entered the kitchen, looking haggard and worn. Her eyes were sunken, puffy, and blood-shot and her hair was a tangled mess. She ignored Kasumi as she headed to the dojo.  
  
Kasumi made a mental note to have another shipment of cinder blocks hauled in. Soon breakfast was ready and she was about to announce it when Nodoka came into the kitchen.  
  
"Kasumi-chan, could you please get Nabiki amd Ranma for me? It is very important."  
  
"Of course, Auntie." Kasumi left Nodoka in the kitchen and went first to her sister's room. She slid the door open and peeked her head in, cautious after the previous night's episode. She 'Oh my'ed when she caught sight of Ranma and Nabiki sleeping peacefully in each other's arms. For two minutes she stood there, unsure of what she should do. Nabiki never looked so happy or content and even Ranma was smiling, something he rarely ever did unless in a fight.   
  
"Kasumi dear, we are waiting," called Nodoka from downstairs.  
  
Kasumi sighed but did as she was asked."Nabiki, Ranma, time to wake up!" she exclaimed happily.  
  
Instantly the two young lovers were wide awake.  
  
"Auntie wants you two downstairs and breakfast is ready." She didn't wait for a response, deciding to give them a moment at least to collect their thoughts.  
****  
"Ranma, let go. We've got to face them sometime." Nabiki was finally released from Ranma's grip.  
  
"I know what's going to happen so why don't you go and let me sleep?" He knew he wouldn't sleep. He was really going to go to the bank to get the money needed for a pair of plane tickets.  
  
"If I have to deal with them so do you." She unashamedly walked around her room, naked, gathering up her's and Ranma's night clothes. They had already seen each other in much more revealing positions but that didn't keep Ranma from blushing heavily, making Nabiki giggle girlishly. She tossed Ranma his boxers and undershirt and said,"Don't be such a big baby, Ranma."  
****  
Nabiki had to drag Ranma down the stairs, literally. She knew that if he really didn't want to come with her he could have stopped her easily. She ignored the thumps his head made as it struck the steps. If he wanted to be that way he could deal with the bruises.  
  
"I didn't really think you would do it," Ranma said when they reached the bottom. He rubbed the back of his head and grumbled on the lack of fairness in the world.  
  
"You know I always keep my word, same as you." She readjusted her grip on his feet and prepared to finish dragging him to their destination.  
  
Ranma stopped her and climbed to his feet."Okay, okay. I'm up, all right?"  
  
"That's better."  
****  
They were waiting for the couple, each caught between a look of ignorance and eagerness. Only Kasumi, who sat to her father's right seemed unaffected by the situation. Her smile was as bright and cheerful as ever.  
  
Nabiki groaned when she saw the gleam in the three adult's eyes. She had expected this, but they sure worked fast.  
  
Ranma, for his part, didn't notice anything strange except for the reason that they were there. He also had the odd feeling that he was standing before a firing squad.  
  
"Nabiki-chan, son, please have a seat," ordered Nodoka so that it sounded like a request or something.  
  
Once they were seated across from the adults Nabiki said,"Don't worry, we're going to get married."  
  
Nodoka beamed with pride for her manly son, he had seduced his fiances' sister. That must have been very hard. Genma and Soun looked like the wind had been torn from their sails. Now their entire argument was pointless.  
  
"Daughter, please tell us why you two betrayed your sister," Soun begged eventually. He was sure that Akane would be fine. She was a strong girl and had plenty of perspective suitors. She could even get in touch with one of those princes that took such a liking to her.  
  
Nabiki looked hurt for a moment, but forced her face back to neutral."We didn't meen to betray her. A lot has happened lately and it's none of your's or anyone else's business."  
  
When they looked to Ranma hoping he would crack, he said,"Uh, what she said."  
  
"You will of course marry right away." Soun was taking no chances this time.  
  
"No, we won't," everyone looked at Ranma,"not until we're ready." He hadn't talked about this part with Nabiki and allowed himself to worry about what she would think about his proclamation, but when he caught a glimpse of the smile she flashed him all the worries disappeared.  
  
"Now see here, you wi-" Genma's mouth snapped shut when Ranma leveled a glare on him that with a thought could have melted stone."Nevermind."  
  
"Will you keep Akane as a mistress?" asked Nodoka seriously. Maybe she could arrange something with those other girls that were so taken by her son's manliness..  
  
Ranma blink blinked at his mom and started choking on his tongue. Nabiki slapped him on his back several times until he could breathe once again, then said,"He most certainly will not!" She was about to use Ranma's pigtail to make him nod, but he beat her to the punch with a vigorous bobbing of his head. He gave his mother much the same glare that had shut his father up.  
  
"I'm sure that this discussion could be finished later today. Nabiki and Ranma will be late for school if they don't hurry." Kasumi was a lifesaver.  
  
Nabiki didn't need to encourage, he was already pulling her through the door before she could blink."Ranma, I'm going to take a bath, could you get me one of the school uniforms out of my closet and leave it in the changing room?" she asked before he could take her upstairs with him.  
  
"Sure." Ranma let her hand slip from his own and continued upstairs.  
****  
Nabiki had slipped her pjs off and was waiting in the changing room for Ranma. That she was naked didn't seem to matter. She pressed herself againgt the wall when the door slid open and Ranma walked through.  
  
Sensing a prescence behind him, Ranma automatically assumed an attack was imminent. In a blur of motion he had his attacker pinned to the wall. Several seconds seemed to go by before he realized that he was holding Nabiki against the wall, partially by her left breast which was mashed in. He fainted.  
  
Nabiki smacked her forehead in frustration, but decided to carry out her plan anyway. For the second time in less than twenty minutes she found herself dragging Ranma by his feet.  
****  
His eyes opened and he looked around in confusion. How had he gotten into the furo? The last thing he remembered was...grabbing Nabiki's breast! A slender leg appeared in front of him, follwed by the rest of the body attached to it.  
  
Nabiki eased herself into the water and seriously considered tearing his hair out when Ranma darted to the other side of the furo and covered himself with his hands."Ranma, you do know that we've seen each other naked before, right?" He nodded."You also know that we've had sex, right?" He nodded again."So why are you acting like a baby?"  
  
"I'm sorry," he apologized, never looking up from the water."I can't help it."  
  
Nabiki slid around to Ranma's side and pressed herself up against him."Did you know you're cute when you get all bashful and shy?"  
  
Ranma screeched in suprise when he felt Nabiki grab hold of something that she definitely shouldn't have, in his opinion.  
****  
Ten of the most embarassing minutes in his life later, Ranma left the bathroom and ran to the guest room to get dressed.  
  
Nabiki decided that Ranma had had enough for one day and went to eat breakfast. Everyone was waiting for her and Ranma she surmised when she saw Genma salivating and holding his chopsticks like miniature spears.  
  
"Where is that boy?" Genma sounded desperate.  
  
"He's changing," answered Nabiki."Where's Akane at?" She didn't really want to face her sister, but she didn't want to be attacked by her either.  
  
"She's in the dojo, but I don't think she wants to be disturbed," Kasumi replied. She didn't mention that Akane's battle aura was peeling the paint from the walls or that the cinder blocks were disintegrating before she actually hit them.  
  
Nabiki had no intention of disturbing Akane. The girl hadn't even tried to kill Ranma last night. Who knew what horrible things she had thought up over night and this time they may not be limited to Ranma.  
****  
Ranma came into the dining room and immediately felt even more embarassed and uncomfortable around the people gathered there. His mom still had that beaming smile plastered to her face. Soun stared at him in a mixture of anger and happiness. Thankfully, his father had only food on his mind and was completely oblivious to anything else. Nabiki though, even with all that had happened in the last few hours, didn't bother him. He even allowed a small smile to come forth to match the tight-lipped, but nonetheless, warm smile that she directed at him.  
  
"It's about time you got here, boy. I'm practically starving to death," complained Genma. Soon his complaints were cut short as Kasumi served breakfast.  
  
Once breakfast had been eaten Ranma announced,"Me and Nabiki are going on a training trip tomorrow."  
  
No one responded. They didn't know what to say. Even Nabiki herself was taken by suprise. Then Genma had to say something."Oh sure, training trip," wink-wink-nudge-nudge,"so that's what they call it nowadays. Hear that Tendo, a 'training trip'?"  
  
Soun seemed to finally break."Waaahhhh!!! My little girl stole her sister's fiance! Waaahhhh! She's having sex before marriage! Waaahhhh! What would her mother think?! Waaahhhh!!!"  
  
Ranma's announcement was suddenly swept under the carpet. Now everybody was busy watching Soun have a minor emotional breakdown, his third of the month.  
  
Nabiki stood up and after getting Ranma's attention with a thrown chopstick, they escaped to the living room."What training trip are you talking about and why don't I know anything about it?" she demanded.  
  
Ranma looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was listening before saying,"If they think we're on a training trip all the other fiances and idiots that think they can kill me will keep themselves busy looking all over Japan for us, but we'll be in Great Britain and they'll never know."  
  
She had long suspected that Ranma had a pretty good mind, even above average. His battle strategies were beyond brilliant and he learned at a frightening speed, but only in the last few months did she realize just how devious he could be. She still got a kick out of remembering how easily Ranma had tricked Ryoga into signing those papers to have his name changed to Milfred. The poor sap probably didn't even know. Now Ranma was doing it again and she couldn't help but throw her arms around him and say,"I knew there was a reason that I fell for you."  
  
Ranma still wasn't used to public affection, or private affection for that matter. His body went rigid, every muscle taut and straining. Nervously, he looked around to make sure that no mallets were approaching.  
  
Nabiki turned him loose and vowed to herself that she would somehow get Ranma to open up more."Come on Ranma, we'll be late for school."  
****  
Together they walked hand in hand. Nabiki had insisted.  
  
"Aren't you worried that someone may see us?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Not really. I can handle anybody at school and your followers are either sick or taking care of the sick. They sure did catch a nasty bug, probably from being exposed to so many people in the restaurants." She was referring to the Shampoo and Mousse who were sick with the flu and Konatsu who had the same thing and was keeping Ukyou busy taking care of him.  
  
*Ring*Ring*  
  
"Oh shit," both Ranma and Nabiki said simultaneously.  
  
Shampoo aimed her bicycle carefully, intending to free her airen from the clutches of the mercenary girl. A foot from Ranma's head the bicycle came to a dead stop. In suprise Shampoo looked down and saw that her airen and the mercenary girl were encased in a reddish bubble. Then gravity took over and she fell over, landed on the fence, lost her balance, and tumbled into the canal below.  
  
"You know that will only keep her busy for a short while." Nabiki didn't want a now recovered and in her opinion, slightly stupid and unbalanced amazon to attack her whenever she turned her back.  
  
Sigh."We'll have to go by the Nekohaten after school and straighten everything out, I guess."  
  
Nabiki squeezed his hand in acknowledgement. He had never faced up to his problems when he was with Akane.  
****  
There were small knots of teenagers scattered throughout the courtyard when they entered. A quiet hush fell over the students when they saw two of Nerimas most notorius people walk in holding hands. It would have been bad enough if those two people were the infamous Ranma and Akane, but Ranma and Nabiki...Half the student population fainted, half the remainder began screaming and howling about the end of the world, and the rest forgot to breathe, eventually fainting also. Only Kuno seemed uneffected. He calmly walked over to Ranma and bowed his head, then said,"You poor misguided soul. What could have befallen even one so vile and blackhearted as you that would force such a show affection with this mercenary?"  
  
While Ranma tried to figure out if Kuno was a pod person or not, Nabiki put her school bag, heavily ladden with books, to good use by reducing the kendoist to a quivering mass of bruised and broken flesh at her feet."Baka," she muttered.  
****  
School was cancelled. Nabiki assumed that it was to avoid any possible riots. There was also the fact that the only teacher willing to stay at school and teach was Ms. Hinako contributed to the cancellation. The other teachers had gone home to spend the little remaining time with family members.  
  
"Nabiki, I think we need to leave really soon. People are getting wierd, even for Nerima," suggested Ranma. Coming from Ranma this was a scary revelation.  
  
"I'll make arrangements right away." She braced herself before entering the Nekohaten. There was no telling what could happen if word had spread.  
  
"Mercenary girl I kill!!" came the cry of rage no sooner than Nabiki had walked into the restaurant. Her bonbori seemed to appear from thin air and were glowing with an intense purple aura by the time they were a foot from her victim's head. They came no farther thanks to a hazy wall of red energy. The Amazon had no time to counter-attack though, as the shield suddenly extended at phenomenal speed and smashed her into the wall.  
  
"...that was close," breathed Nabiki, wiping sweat from her forehead.  
  
"Cologne," growled Ranma,"get out here before Shampoo does something stupid."  
  
She appeared in front of the couple, standing on the counter. Nabiki gasped in suprise, already unhinged slightly by Shampoo's attack, but to Ranma Cologne's arrival was a simple matter of speed."I was not expecting either of you back so soon."  
  
"I don't care what you were expecting. I do, however, care wether or not Shampoo, you, or any other Amazon hurts Nabiki." Ranma glared towards Shampoo's unconscious form."Understand?"  
  
Cologne met him eye to eye, but refused to acknowledge his question.  
  
The air began to ripple in the restaurant. Nabiki wrapped her arms around herself as the area she stood in became cold enough to mist her breath. Glancing around the room proved to be yet another shock, though. Some of the windows were beginning to frost over while paint was peeling from the walls in some places thanks to extreme heat. The slight breeze that began to blow seemed of little consequence.  
  
"Understand?" Ranma's voice boomed loudly, rattling furniture and windows.  
  
"Perfectly," hissed Cologne. No one had treated her with such disrespect and lived since she was twelve. Her staff creaked and strained in her iron grip. Long after Ranma and Nabiki had gone she looked down at her staff. It rippled and where once a piece of ancient gnarled wood had stood there was a midnight black one with runes carved all across its surface. She may not be able to use it anymore, but Shampoo could and then she would have her revenge.  
  
Taking hold of Nabiki's hand Ranma led her out into the street and towards the Tendo home.  
  
"That wasn't part of the plan, Ranma," she snapped. Her irratation was not nearly as great as she made it out to be.  
  
He sighed loudly and said,"I'm sorry Nabiki. I just had to do something, though. She would never have given up on me even if we're Knights of the Word."  
  
Still with her right hand firmly in Ranma's grasp, Nabiki used her left hand to lightly smack him in the forehead."Don't you ever scare me like that again! What were you doing in there anyway?"  
  
Ranma didn't react to the hit but he did answer the question."There's more to this psycho-mancer stuff than just fire. I've got the opposite of it too. You know, fire and ice."  
  
"Since when have you been able to do that?"  
  
"Since about three or four hours ago."  
  
"Ranma, dear, you lost me." She had to fight a strong urge not to smack him with her school bag. She would not be like her stupid sister and ruin her chance.  
  
"After we fell back asleep last night," Ranma blushed at the memory,"I had more dreams. Most of them were us fighting demons and monsters. When I woke up I remembered how, that's all."  
  
"Did you have anymore strange dreams that I should know about?"  
  
Ranma fidgeted a little before answering."Um, well, you're a psychic, I think."  
  
Nabiki burst out laughing. Ranma and his bad jokes.  
  
"Hey what's so funny?!" he demanded."I'm serious."  
  
Nabiki couldn't help herself. She just laughed harder.  
  
Grumbling to himself and occasionally muttering something about 'women', Ranma accompanied Nabiki home.  
  
  
Author's Notes: Um...sorry for waiting so long to put this out. It's all Robert Jordan and his damned WHEEL OF TIME books' fault, promise.  
  



	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Ranma 1/2 and its characters belong to Rumiko   
Takahashi and Viz Video. I am only using their characters   
for the entertainment of others. Terry Brooks and the   
publisher of his books own all the characters and ideas that   
I use from them.  
  
Darkness Ahead Chapter 7:  
  
Walking into the house neither Nabiki nor Ranma announced   
their arrival. Laughter could be heard coming from one part   
of the house and gentle humming from another. Everything   
seemed normal. Everybody knew that normal in the Tendo   
home and Nerima itself was far from the standard that the   
rest of the planet lived by.  
  
"I'm going to go ahead and get packed. You should too,"   
said Ranma, disengaging his hand from Nabiki's suprisingly   
firm grip.  
  
"I've got to make travel arrangements first. Then I'll pack   
my luggage." Geeeze, he acted like she had never been on a   
trip before.  
  
"Just remember to pack light, this is a training trip."  
  
Nabiki caught the slight emphasization on the 'training' part   
and reluctantly admitted to herself that the plans she had   
formed in her head included no less than three suitcases.   
Continuing upstairs, Nabiki looked questioningly at Ranma's   
back as he moved towards the back of the house. Why couldn't   
he follow his own advice?  
****  
Closing the door behind herself Nabiki threw her school bag   
onto her bed and pulled a canvas duffel bag out of the clutter   
in the bottom of her closet. Behind her she heard the door   
slide open. Before she could turn around her guest spoke.  
  
"You can't have him," Nabiki recognized the voice as belonging   
to her sister, Akane. It was different though. There were   
no signs of emotion, not even anger, just cold detachment.  
  
Nabiki slowly turned to face Akane and said,"Akane, I'm really   
sorry, but.....I can't help it," she got all teary eyed."I   
really really love him and he loves me!" The distinctive ring   
of steel being drawn drew Nabiki's attention to the Tendo   
family sword grasped tightly in Akane's hand. Oddly, her first   
thought was how come she hadn't noticed it in the first place.  
  
She moved with suprising speed, more than Nabiki had ever seen   
her display in any of her fights. Hardly at Ranma's level, but   
well above anything that Nabiki herself could avoid. As the   
blade arched cleanly to deliver the decapitating blow, Nabiki   
realized that she was screaming. But before help could arrive   
she would be dead. Would have if the blade hadn't stopped an   
inch from her throat.  
  
Akane grunted as she applied increasingly greater and greater   
pressure to her attack. The blade wouldn't move. She knew   
something was holding her back but it couldn't last forever.   
She would succeed. Her arms began to ache from strain and   
the sword started to tremble. Then with a snap the blade broke.   
With all the force finally released, Akane's body slipped   
past her sister and crashed into the closet wall. The broken   
point rebounded off of the opposing force and became firmly   
planted in the wall next to Nabiki's head.  
****  
Ranma wanted to pay one last visit to the dojo. For all he   
knew it could be his last time seeing it. His legs in a lotus   
position, but floating along with the rest of him, Ranma reached   
out with his chi. The world came into a new focus. He could   
count the individual grains of wood in the floor, feel the   
prescence of the surveillance equipment that peppered the nooks   
and crannies of the training hall, and...hear a blood curdling   
scream from the house.  
  
His feet never touched the ground, they merely unfolded. Then   
like a rocket he blasted through the door out into the backyard,   
through the back door of the house and around the corner that   
led upstairs. He was in Nabiki's room in no more than a few   
seconds, but he was already to late.  
  
He watched as Akane's sword broke against some force that made   
his chi tingle. It was almost like someone was tickling him...  
Anyway, he ran over to Nabiki and scooped her up into his arms   
and carried into the hallway and away from her sister.  
  
Nabiki threw shaky arms around Ranma's neck. She was trembling   
visibly and sniffling but not crying."R-Ranma, Ak-Akane tried   
t-to kill me." Her grip tightened and her body became racked by   
sobs.  
  
"Shhh, it'll be all tight." Ranma nervously reassured her.   
He still wasn't used to the now frequent shows of emotion that   
Nabiki had been displaying lately."Mom will know what to do."   
Carrying Nabiki down the stairs proved to be no challenge. Not   
running away when Nodoka started smiling at him and winking after   
seeing him carry Nabiki was much much harder.  
****  
At first when Nodoka saw him carrying his fiance she thought he   
was about to prove how manly he was again. A man can never be   
too manly afterall. Well maybe Master Happosai...But when she   
saw him set her at the kitchen table and noticed that she was   
crying, Nodoka knew something was wrong. She and Kasumi rushed   
from the stove, where they were about to put a cake in the oven,   
and over to the couple.  
  
"What's wrong, son?" asked Nodoka."Have you two already had a   
fight?"  
  
"No, mom. Akane just tried to kill Nabiki," Ranma answered angrily.   
Akane really was a psycho bitch. Well he had known all along.  
  
Nodoka's mouth fell open and stayed open from shock, but Kasumi   
gasped,"Oh my," and fainted, falling over the table.  
  
Eventually Nodoka asked,"Should I call the authorities?" She   
couldn't stand the idea of Akane being arrested, but if she really   
was homicidal there wasn't much choice.  
  
"No mom, I'll handle it." Ranma left Nabiki in the care of his   
mother and her sister. Upstairs in Nabiki's room he found Akane   
in the process of pulling her head through the wall. Before   
she could get free though, he rushed forward and struck a pressure   
point on the back of her neck, rendering her unconscious. Then  
using some pantyhose that had remarkably eluded Happosai's   
capture, he hogtied and gagged Akane.  
  
Carrying Akane down the stairs was a bit more awkward than Nabiki   
who seemed to fit perfectly in his arms. He deposited the girl   
on the kitchen floor and went to check on Nabiki.  
  
"Are you all right?" he asked her.  
  
Nabiki had stopped crying in the short time that Ranma was gone   
and now appeared calm and composed, except for the tear streaks   
on her face and her slightly bloodshot eyes."Yeah thanks to you.   
I'd be a few inches shorter if you hadn't stopped the sword."  
  
Ranma suddenly remembered the that some had indeed stopped the   
sword from killing Nabiki, but it wasn't him."I didn't do anything   
to the sword."  
  
Nabiki was staring at Akane, but asked,"Well what stopped it then?"  
  
Ranma bent down to whisper in Nabiki's ear."I think you did." Before she could protest, he put a finger over her lips and continued,"I told you that in my dream you were a psychic. What's it called when someone can move stuff without touching it?"  
  
Nabiki quietly responded."Telekinesis, Ranma. It's called telekinesis, but I can't do that. It doesn't really exist." Ranma just looked at her flatly."All right it might exist but I can't have it."  
  
"Why not?"  
  
Before Nabiki could answer, Nodoka snapped her fingers to get their attention and asked,"If you two need some privacy, I'll take care of these two for a while." She pointed to Kasumi who was now in a chair sleeping and Akane's tied form. Whispering was just so impolite.  
  
"Thanks, mom."  
****  
"Why not?" repeated Ranma oncew they were in the living room.  
  
Nabiki couldn't actually think of a decent reason that she couldn't be telekinetic."I don't know."  
  
"Well in that particular dream, what I can remember of you, you were smashing stuff just by looking at it and had three swords floating around you, cutting up anything that got too close."  
  
"We'll figure it out later. What are we going to do? What about dad?" He was in the backyard playing shogi with Ranma's father, blissfully oblivious of the world. He hadn't even heard her scream.  
  
"We're leaving. Let everybody else deal with Akane," Ranma answered firmly.  
  
"But Ranma, we haven't even got plane tickets yet and I haven't told our teachers that we're going to be gone for a while," she protested.  
  
"We can stay at a Hotel until you can get a flight booked and a letter to the school will work just as good as a phone call. If we stay much longer something really bad might happen. Remember, Ukyou and Kodachi haven't taken their shots at you yet."  
  
She did want to spend some time alone with Ranma before they had to go to Great Britain and a few days in a Hotel would be nice."Okay, I'll finish getting packed and we can go ahead and leave."  
  
"I'm gonna go tell our fathers what's been going on."  
  
Nabiki left Ranma and went back up to her room. She packed a few changes of clothes in her duffel bag. It took her several minutes to find the case for her lap-top computer and even longer to find the charger and spare battery. Once it was all gathered she fished her wallet out of her school bag along with her cell phone. She met Ranma down stairs. He'd already packed and dealt with the fathers.  
****  
Ranma jumped back, barely avoiding Soun as he lunged for Nabiki. The man was going to dehydrate himself one of these days. His goodbyes with his parents were much more subdued and less energetic, though his mother did seem like she wanted to crack his ribs.  
  
"Yes, I promise to wash behind my ears," Ranma told his mother. Of all the things to worry about, she picked his ears, sheesh!  
  
Fianlly the taxi that Nabiki called arrived and they made their escape.  
  
"Glad that's over with. I can't believe that the last thing she told me was to wash behind my ears."  
  
Nabiki grinned."I'll make sure that you keep them clean. And everything else." She ran a finger along his ear.  
  
Ranma turned bright red when he noticed the cabby looking at the in the rear view mirror.  
  
Nabiki almost laughed. A few days to properly train Ranma would do him a world of good. Instead she asked,"So what Hotel are we staying at?"  
  
"Why are you asking me, that's your department."  
  
"Your kidding, right? It was your idea to stay in one in the first place." She poke him in the forehead for emphasis.  
  
"But your always the one that handles that kind of stuff. How was I supposed to know that you expected me to?"  
  
"Pardon me for interrupting, but what area are you interested in staying?" asked the man driving the cab.  
  
"The airport," Nabiki answered.  
  
"Ouch. The Star Trek convention has most of those filled up, but some of the more expensive ones may still have rooms."  
  
"Ranma, you owe me," she said to Ranma, but finished by saying to the cabby,"Please take us to one of those."  
****  
Ranma was beginning to sweat. Already they had visited three hotels and all were booked solid. Now they were at the last one that had any chance of having vacancies.  
  
"Yes we have a few rooms left," answered the desk attendent.  
  
"How much will that be?" Nabiki asked. She was going to ring Ranma's neck. She all ready owed the cab driver six thousand yen.  
  
"45,000 yen per night."  
  
Nabiki made a choking sound. Ranma helpfully smacked her on the back. It wasn't the smartest thing to do. She rounded on him, throwing his arm out of the way and reached up and gragged his pigtail.   
  
"Ow, that hurt!" he cried out after Nabiki had dragged him behind a huge potted plant.  
  
"Do you have any idea how expensive this hotel is?"  
  
"Um, no. How much?" he asked sheepishly.  
  
"45,000 a night. 45,000." Nabiki answered fiercely.  
  
Ranma sighed and relented the only secret he'd ever been ever to keep from Nabiki and her spies."Okay fine, I'll pay for it. Do they take checks?"  
  
"Ranma dear, what are you talking about?" Nabiki asked him sweetly. She even managed to look innocent. All together it was a very good act.  
  
Ranma, being Ranma, fell for it hook, line, and sinker."Mom opened me this really huge bank account, for emergencies. Who would've thought that she was rich," he finished, asking himself the question more than he was Nabiki.  
  
This ranked right up there with the most shocking moments of Nabiki's young life. There was finding out about Ranma's curse, falling in love with him and having the feelings reciprocated, having sex with him, and now finally, finding out that Nodoka had somehow managed to keep her money from her greedy husband. Strange how all the excitement in her life could be traced back to Ranma."Just how much is in this account?" She suprised herself at how calm she sounded.  
  
Ranma cringed, recognizing hidden emotion, most likely anger."A million yen." He prepared to dodge encase Nabiki decided to test her new abilities out on him.  
  
Nabiki was about to apply a devastating verbal assault on the importance of sharing such large secrets with each other when she suddenly felt a wave of fear and doubt. It was so suprising that the whole argument slipped from her mind. Somehow she now she was experiencing Ranma's feelings. Why would he be scared of her? Looking at him, she saw that his muscles were tensed and his eyes were darting around furiously. He thought she was going to hit him. Damn Akane and her temper."From now no more secrets, okay?" she ended up asking.  
  
Ranma seemed as suprised as she was that nothing violent had occured."You're not mad, you know... about not telling you?"  
  
She realized that she wasn't really mad at Ranma. What really upset her was that Ranma hadn't done anything and he'd gotten a load of money, where she had had to work her ass of for years to get hers."Nah, it's no big deal. Don't worry, though, I'll pay for it."  
  
Nabiki returned to the desk and accepted the room.  
****  
He couldn't believe that he had failed. It was such a simple job. Kill one defenseless girl. He'd snuck into the house and found her bedroom easily enough. It had the name on it for hell's sake.   
  
He'd only been under the bed when he felt a prescence nearby. Nothing to worry about, no one could see him in the shadows anyway. Then he had felt such immense anger and pain mixed equally with betrayal and jealousy that he'd come as close to a climax as he had in the last hundred and fifty years since his body had changed. It was beyond description.   
  
It didn't take much experience to know that the prescence, a girl if his nose was correct, was projecting these delicious feelings towards his target. What could she have done to cause such suffering? Hell, he didn't even know what she had done to warrant his services, but it was an order and he'd been promised a little time alone with her as payment, so he didn't ask questions.  
  
"How could you, Nabiki?" the girl had asked."We were meant to be together." Then came the crying. Oh how he loved to hear a girl cry."I l-love him," she finished in a sobbing heap on his targets bed.  
  
The proverbial lightbulb had flickered then and the idea came to him. Her emotions were already in upheaval and he sense'd an immense temper. So, with a little tweaking he'd sent her into a slow boil with homicidal rage as the goal. Too bad it hadn't worked.  
  
How was he supposed to know that the girl had such a powerful magic? And the boy, what in creation was he?! Just being near him had been agony. No matter. Now he knew where they were staying, his target and the boy, and this time he wasn't taking any chances. It was ridicuosly expensive hiring a gang these days. Heavy weaponry, now that was a bitch.  
****  
"This is nice," commented Ranma as they entered their room. The huge bed with a mirrored ceiling especially drew his attention.  
  
"It ought to be."  
  
"I did offer to pay for it you know." Nabiki tossed his backpack onto the bed where it bounced two times and landed on the other side.  
  
"Sorry." Much more carefully she sat her bag on the bed."Well if I'm paying for it I might as well enjoy it. How about some room service?"  
  
"Not that I'm turning down food, but we did stop at that burger place before we came here? If you do order something though, how bout getting me some ice cream."  
  
Nabiki smirked. It turned into her evil grin."I was thinking more along the lines of champagne and some strawberries with whip cream."  
  
Ranma didn't know what Nabiki thought was so funny and he surely didn't think anything of her choices, so he said,"That's cool, but can you get some chocolate on them too?"  
  
"Why Ranma, I didn't know you had it in you." She laughed to herself. He probably had no idea what he was getting himself into.  
****  
Ranma stumbled out of the room several hours later, clothed only in a half open bathrobe. Where was he supposed to find extra towels?  
  
"Can I help you sir?"  
  
Ranma whirled around with just enough force to completely throw open his robe."Eep!," he screeched, quickly tying it shut."Heh heh, sorry about that, but, um, I was just looking for some towels, all of ours are dirty."  
  
"Oh sure, just a minute." She walked around the corner and soon returned pushing a cart full of cleaning supplies. From a bottom shelf she pulled several folded white towels and handed them too Ranma.  
  
"Thanks a bunch," he told her, resigning himself for what was to come once he walked back into the room."  
  
Before Ranma could go the maid said,"Someone'll be by in the morning to collect the others."   
  
Nodding, Ranma opened the door and ducked back inside. He found Nabiki fully dresses with her hair dry and looking like it had never been disturbed. Wow, that was pretty quick."Found some."  
  
"Great. Now go take your shower and we'll go see if there are any movies in that theatre downstairs worth watching."  
****  
With Ranma in the bathroom Nabiki took out her lap-top and plugged it into the telephone jack. Within a few minutes she had found Japan Air's website. By the time Ranma was finished they had two round trip tickets to Great Britain booked. Nabiki made sure that they would have a few days in the hotel before the flight.  
  
"So what are they showing?" asked Ranma.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"In the theatre, remember, you mentioned it a few minutes a ago?"  
  
"Oh, I'm not sure."  
  
Ranma shrugged and began dressing in an outfit that Nabiki had laid out on the bed for him. It was his 'nice' one, consisting of a blue silk shirt embroidered with dragons running around it and matching black pants."Do you think we should call home and tell our folks that we're okay?" asked Ranma once he was fully clothed.  
  
"Are you kidding? If we do that then they'll be able to find out where we're staying. I sent Kasumi an e-mail. She should get it when she goes online tonight."  
  
He couldn't have heard that right."Kasumi? She has a computer."  
  
"Yeah, I bought it for her a few months ago. She spends a couple hours every night chatting with people." She laughed."You wouldn't believe how much of a different person she is. She'd die if she knew I spied on some of those 'conversations'."  
  
"Don't you think that's a bit low? Spying on Kasumi?" he asked disapprovingly.  
  
"Don't try to get all moral with me. If I hadn't spied on her then the last few hours would have been a lot duller."  
  
It took a few seconds for what she was saying to sink in. Then Ranma began hitting himself in the head repeatedly. He couldn't think about Kasumi like that. She was like his mother!  
  
"Yeah, it shocked me too."  
****  
Ranma escorted Nabiki downstairs, his arm, not by choice, entwined with hers."So where is this theatre at?"  
  
Nabiki looked around and somewhat embarassedly said,"I think it was at the last hotel we visited before this one."  
  
"All dressed up and no place to go," commented Ranma.  
  
Before Nabiki could respond all hell broke loose. Gunshots rang throughout the spacious lobby and people ran around in a panic, screaming.   
  
Ranma grabbed Nabiki and dived behind a large stone column just as the area they had been standing in was riddled with bullets."Stay down!" Ranma shouted so that he could be heard over the noise.   
  
Before Nabiki could stop him he pulled away and before her very eyes seemed to fade out of existance. Ranma was using the Umi-sen-ken, she realized.  
****  
Even hidden, Ranma knew that he was in danger. He could sense the bullets flying threw the air. They were everywhere, coming from all angles. Reduced to a creeping pace, it took him nearly a minute to reach the first gunman and about two seconds to disarm and incapcitate him.  
  
The screams were noticably decreasing in frequency. Ranma hoped that the cause was simply people escaping, but he knew the truth. There were enough bodies strewn around. A second gunman, a gunwoman really, fell just as quickly as the last. Turning around, he saw something that nearly made his heart stop. A massive man, a shotgun slung across his shoulder, was dragging a kicking and screaming Nabiki by the hair into the open. Another man had just put another clip in his machine gun and was preparing to shoot her.  
  
With a wordless roar Ranma launched a massive ball of fire at the men. Before they knew what was happening nothing remained of them above their waists. Ranma dropped the cloak of chi that kept him unseen and immediately brought up his shield. By the time he reached nabiki she'd already gotten clear of the mass of legs that had fallen on her. He quickly extended the shield to encompass her.  
  
Bullets began to ring of the shield causing slight ripples along its glassy surface. Even when what could only have been a grenade exploded against the barrier it held up.  
  
"Are you hurt?" asked Ranma while padding Nabiki's body down, searching for bullet wounds.  
  
"No," she replied, slightly flustered thanks to Ranma's ministrations."I'm fine."  
****  
Nabiki wasn't about to tell Ranma that she wasn't okay at all. All those people's fear and pain, for one moment had been shared with her and her mind still felt clouded and dull after the intensity of the feelings that she had experienced. That brute certainly never would have suprised her if it hadn't happened.  
  
They were surrounded by at least a dozen men and women now. Nabiki hoped that Ranma's shield didn't collapse. She yelped and bit her tongue when Ranma grabbed her around the waist and shot toward the high cieling of the lobby. The guns went silent a couple seconds later. Nabiki looked down through the hazy bubble's bottom and saw their attackers all arranged in a neat circle. Fortunately for her and Ranma, unfortunately for them, they were all dead, killed in the crossfire when Ranma moved their target.  
  
Ranma didn't let them down immediately. He floated them across the dead bodies and into an empty elevator. Nabiki took the liberty of mashing the nine button to take them to their floor.  
  
"We were never down their," said Ranma sternly.  
  
Nabiki nodded and said,"We never left the room."  
  
They trudged into the room, ignoring the sound of sirens in the distance, and eventually fell asleep in each other's arms.  
****  
"Let's see it," commanded a man in a black business suit. He wore a pair of mirrored glasses that hid his eyes but couldn't hide the ugly scar that ran from his scalp, through his right eye, and down to his chin.  
  
"Yes sir," a weasily man answered. He walked to the front of the room and placed a video tape in the VCR.  
  
The wall mounted tv began to show a peaceful hotel lobby. After nearly a minute though, several armed people run in and open fire on anybody they see. One couple in particular dives out of the way. Then the man seems to disappear.  
  
Different camera angle-  
  
One of the men is beaten into unconsciuosness by a ghostly blur that soon disappears. The scene repeats itself with a woman attacker.  
  
Original camera angle-  
  
The woman is now being dragged into the open by a large man. Before she could be shot by another of the armed men, a ball of fire kills both of them, leaving the woman unharmed. The man from before helps her to her feet then they are surrounded by a shield. The shield is bombarded for nearly a minute before it moves so quickly to the ceiling that the gunmen kill each other before they can stop firing.  
  
End tape-  
  
"As you can see," the man in the glasses addresses the others gathered in the room,"we have another subject to bring in."  
  
"I recognize him," a woman in her middles years says."He was at the school where Takahashi was captured."  
  
"Are you saying that he is the one who defeated the most powerful psycho-mancer on record?" asked another man.  
  
"It's possible. By his demonstration at the Continental(I made that up, I think) he too is a psycho-mancer, albeit one gifted with a wider range of abilities."  
  
"He can not be allowed to slip through our fingers again. Have him brought in immediately," ordered the scarred man.  
  
"He's already boarded the plane, sir."  
  
"Well have our British division waiting for him at the airport. Dismissed."  
  
"Yes sir."  
****  
  
Author's notes: From here on I plan on writing much faster. If I don't fail out of college. If that happens...well I don't want to think about that.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



End file.
